Lelouch of the Rebellion RX: Demonic Knights
by BlackTyrantValvatorez
Summary: Instead of making a push to take the Tokyo Settlement in the aftermath of the SAZ massacre, Lelouch decided to abandon Nunnally and become Zero full-time. When the Emperor tries to intercept Lelouch, he Geasses his father into erasing all of his memories save that Zero leads the Black Knights and that he desires to destroy Britannia. Rated for future violence and language.
1. Leaving Area Eleven

"Lelouch"- talking normally

"{Die.}"- Geass command

_"Roger."_- Radio/Walkie-Talkie

Aboard a large tanker, 12 nautical miles from Area Eleven, 2017.

Zero stood on the almost lifeless deck of the tanker alone. The Black Knights had decided to accompany him and they knew his identity as Lelouch since he revealed it to them after the tanker began it voyage to the Chinese Federation. They had supported him fully and vowed to help him no matter what happened after learning his motives for fighting Britannia. When Zero revelaed his identity, he had also told them about Geass. Zero was deep in thought as he had a flashback of what happened.

Two days ago, they had no choice but to kill Princess Euphemia when she declared her intent to kill the Japanese. Britannia came down hard, but Zero parleyed with Cornelia and convinced her to allow the Black Knights to leave Area Eleven in exchange for not committing genocide against any Elevens that stayed. In secret, Zero also agreed that the Black Knights would leave Britannia alone for a period of six months. 90% of Area Eleven's native Eleven population had decided that they would leave in support and solidarity of Zero. The remaining ten percent were all Honorary Britannians, who scorned their former countrymen for leaving.

Lelouch was shaken out of his thoughts as he heard a helicopter approaching. It landed on the tanker and saw the Emperor step out along with a blond boy that Lelouch didn't recognize. Suzaku came out of the copter as well and the exiled prince's blood ran cold as Suzaku also exited with Nunnally.

"It has been a long time, Lelouch vi Britannia, or should I say, Lelouch Lamperouge." Emperor Charles zi Britannia said.

"Do not try to lure me into a false sense of security, Emperor. I have abandoned the name Lelouch Lamperouge. Lelouch Lamperouge died in Tokyo yesterday, executed in secret by the Black Knights for being a spy. My name is Zero now. I am a parentless man who only seeks to destroy Britannia." Zero coldly said to the Emperor.

"You would abandon your sister for this!? I had V.V. kidnap her and you didn't pursue them!"

"Do not try to deceive me! Nunnally vi Britannia is not my sister! She is my enemy!"

"Lelouch, why are you doing this!? You murdered Euphemia, and I can't forgive you for that!" Suzaku shouted.

"B-Brother, why? Why are you running away!?" Nunnally cried to Lelouch.

"I have no siblings! I only have the Black Knights!" Lelouch yelled coldly before his Geass activated and he stared into the Emperor's eyes and said, "{You will use your Geass on me to erase all of my memories save for that I am Zero, that I am the leader of the Black Knights, that I possess Geass, and that I am a parentless and siblingless man whose only goal is to destroy Britannia. Furthermore, until you die, you will acknowledge that Lelouch vi Britannia a.k.a. Lelouch Lamperouge died as an ally of Britannia who spied on the Black Knights.}"

The Emperor's eyes had a red ring form around them and he looked ready to kill Lelouch before he said, "Very well then."

Charles zi Britannia looked at Lelouch in the eyes, the young man's gaze not straying from the Emperor as he did what Zero's Geass commanded him to. He then said, "We will leave now, Zero. Our business is done and we know that you will not return for at least six months."

The Emperor had Suzaku, V.V., and Nunnally return to the helicopter before he boarded it himself and it took off for areas unknown. Darlton hailed the Emperor and said, _"Dammit, Your Majesty! This was our chance to eliminate the Black Knights and you didn't allow us to!"_

The Emperor simply responded with, _"The time for the Black Knights will come another day. Today was not the time for the Black Knights to die."_

_"Understood, Your Majesty. I will not question your wisdom again."_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: This will not be your typical story. Lelouch knew what he was getting into when the SAZ massacre occurred and this time he has decided to abandon Nunnally, become Zero full-time, and establish the Black Knights' power base in the Chinese Federation. C.C. will not restore Zero's memories until Chapter 10 even though they will reunite in Chapter Four and even then Lelouch will not focus on finding out who killed his mother until the Black Knights have captured Nunnally, Sayoko and Jeremiah. No, I won't specify what chapter will have the Black Knights capture her, but rest assured that it will be some time after Zero's memories are restored that the Black Knights will launch an operation to capture Nunnally.**


	2. Persona Non Grata

"Lelouch"- talking normally

'LOADING SYSTEM.'- Computer infomration

_"Roger."_- Radio/Walkie-Talkie

Mountain safehouse, Himichal Pradesh, Militarized Zone of India, November, 2017.

Inside a room with a few computers at the mountain safehouse, Zero saw a few personnel looking at intelligence that had been gathered. Apparently Odysseus was going to be joining hands with the Empress of the Chinese Federation, a young thriteen-year-old girl named Jiang Lihua, in three weeks. The seventy-five soldiers who shared the safehouse with the Black Knights were members of an organization called a Private Military Company or PMC. They had helped the Black Knights settle into the Chinese Federation only a mere two days after the Black Knights had arrived.

When the Black Knights were accepted into the Chinese Federation, they initially had nothing except for their submarine and any equipment that had been onboard. After receiving help from the PMC, the Black Knights had gotten a safehouse in China proper and from there they received their first mission on the fifth day since their arrival from the Empress, who answered by the alias Tianzi. Extremely violent riots had broken out in Shanghai and the Black Knights were to assist the PMC in suppressing them. The mission was a success and with it the Vermillion Forbidden City became a second safehouse that the Black Knights could operate from. Seven missions later, with one mission being performed each week, the Black Knights now had a total of eight safehouses throughout the Federation. The High Eunichs were not happy about the Black Knights blatantly operating and tried to devise a plan to replace the current Empress with an anti-Black Knight one under their control, but Tianzi had enough of their schemes and the sixth mission of the Knights was to destroy the Eunichs.

Needless to say, it went semi-flawlessly and Tianzi began the slow process of consolidating her power through the Black Knights and the PMC. However, Britannia found out about the destruction of the High Eunichs and began plotting to defeat the Black Knights by capturing or killing their leaders. Shortly after a mission that involved receiving assistance from the PMC, the PMC had brought to the safehouse a critically injured soldier who went by the designation 'N-11' and was a very resourceful man.

The leader of the PMC, a man called Harsha Vazano, said, "Zero, we've got vital signs, but they're weak. N-11 won't last without proper medical attention."

"N-11 is a hard bastard. Trust me, he'll make it." Zero replied but very quickly on a small monitor the words 'PERIMETER BREACHED' appeared as a radar alarm sounded and a Black Knight came to Zero and said, "Incoming signatures."

"We've got company." Harsha said.

"It's the Britannian Empire. They're tying up loose ends. Who's your best man." Zero remarked.

"Ivan. Ex-Russian. Only man I know who hates Britannia more than you."

"Get him. They'll use the ridgeline for cover and fly in from the south with foot soldiers." Zero said as the monitor hooked up to the radar tracked hostiles approaching the safehouse.

"How do you know?"

"It's what I would do. Additionally, the area around this safehouse is currently being covered by the effects of a special jamming field that prevents any Britannian Knightmare Frames from operating at all and even if the jammer was taken offline, the terrain makes incoming Knightmares easy targets."

* * *

><p>"Britannian attack choppers coming in from over the ridge!" a PMC soldier shouted.<p>

"How many of them are there?" a Black Knight asked.

"Five VTOL Gunships and six- no, seven transport helicopters! Commandos fast-roping down!"

"Get a fire team on the roof!"

"Ivan! Ivan, over here!" Harsha shouted as Ivan came into the room where Zero and Harsha were watching a doctor attempting to patch up one of N-11's wounds. N-11, a young man with brown hair who wore a red headband in addition to the PMC uniform, grabbed Ivan's shirt and coughed from his wounds.

"We need to get N-11 to the evacuation chopper!" Zero said.

Harsha heard a low flapping sound and asked, "What is that!?"

The sound gets louder and both Harsha and Ivan turn to face the far wall. Suddenly a Britannian VTOL Gunship crashed through the wall and knocked everyone down before falling out of the room. Outside, Ivan saw seven Britannian transport copters fly in and begin to drop Britannian Special Forces as Zero asked, "Is everyone alright?"

Harsha then motioned Ivan to Zero and said, "Do whatever this man says!"

"Ivan, take position on the balcony! We need to buy the doctor some time! Keep your eyes on the courtyard." Zero said as Ivan pulled out and cocked an AK-47 that had a GP-25 under-barrel grenade launcher and Red Dot Sight. He saw a PMC soldier shoot down a transport copter with a Rocket-Propelled Grenade and then the courtyard's gate exploded as Britannian Commandos breached and both the PMC troops and Black Knights began to engage them.

"They've breached the courtyard! Take them down!" Zero shouted as he pulled out a Britannian Assault Rifle and began firing onto the enemies in the courtyard with Ivan. After about twenty commandos were killed, Zero ordered, "We need to hold them off until we can move N-11!"

After a few seconds, during which Zero and Ivan were able to kill an additional ten or eleven commandos, the Britannians popped smoke in the courtyard as a VTOL Gunship appeared and fired a burst of ventral cannon fire, killing the doctor before it was shot down by an RPG fired by a PMC soldier and crashed into the surrounding area.

"The doctor's down! Ivan, we need your help! Get over here and give N-11 the shot!" Harsha shouted. Ivan then proceeded to the table, picked up a syringe, and gave N-11 a shot of adrenaline to keep his heart beating. A Britannian commando then broke down the door and entered with the intent of capturing or killing everyone, but Zero quickly pulled a pistol out and shot the hostile in the head.

"They're on the roof! We've got to evacuate the safehouse and get N-11 to the chopper!" Zero shouted.

"I've got him!"

"Ivan, you're with me, Kallen, and Tamaki!"

In the hallway of the safehouse, three enemy commandos roped in from the roof, but then one of them pulled his pistol out and shot his comrades in the head before putting his weapons away and taking his helmet off, revelaing the face of a boy with brown hair and violet eyes.

"I don't know why you decided to betray the Britannians now, but you're gonna have to go with us if you want to survive." Zero said to the boy.

"My name's Rolo Haliburton. I'll be fighting for the Black Knight now." the boy said before he put his helmet back on and pulled out his assault rifle. He then opened the door and went down the stairs before Zero and Ivan did so as well. It was then that Ivan and Rolo were introduced to Kallen and Tamaki, both of whom wore the uniform of the Black Knights and a red headband. As the five of them headed into the courtyard, the PMC soldiers and the Black Knights continued to hold back the Britannians.

Meanwhile on the Avalon, Suzaku and Schneizel were watching the situation on the ground from the bridge.

"Dammit! Rolo turned traitor on us now, of all times!" Suzaku shouted as he banged his clenched right fist on his chair as he viewed Rolo's betrayal from a dead commando's helmet camera.

"The situation is still salvageable, Knight of Seven. We just need to find that Knightmare Jammer and take it out, then we can use our Knightmare Frames and easily rout the enemy." Schneizel said with a calm look on his face.

"You think now would be a good time to deploy one of them?"

"Aye." Schneizel said before he transmiteed, _"Air Battalion, deploy SR-02 'Angel' Spy Plane #024453."_

_"Roger that."_ the commander of the Air Battalion remarked as a Britannian Spy Plane took off. Meanwhile, the safehouse had been cleared and Zero, Kallen, Rolo, Tamaki, and Ivan saw civilians running away as they exited through the front gate while the rest of the PMC troops except Harsha and N-11 and Black Knights evacuated the safehouse another way.

"Hold fire! Civilians!" Zero commanded. Down the street to the left, Britannian soldiers were firing on the civilians and managed to kill some of them. The four Black Knights and Ivan began to engage and noticed a car crash onto the side of the road.

"Watch the balconies! Harsha, hang back and protect N-11! Ivan, doorway to the right!"

Ivan aimed and fired his AK-47 to the right and killed a Britannian commando as he advanced with the Black Knights. At the corner of the road, a transport copter stopped to drop more commandos, but it was shot down by evacuating PMC troops after only two disembarked and later crashed in a nearby street where no fighting was occurring.

"Machine gunner on the balcony! Coud you take him out?!" Kallen shouted.

Ivan opened fire and killed a commando operating a heavy-duty machine gun mounted on a balcony but when the position was downed, the three remaining VTOL Gunships began opening fire on the streets, prompting the Black Knights plus Ivan to take cover inside the buildings. Before the gunships could make another pass, one of them was shot down by PMC soldiers that had evacuated the safehouse and the other two had to scatter.

"The chopper's this way!" Tamaki shouted as he led the Black Knights and Ivan down an alley on the left.

_"The weapons are in a building directly ahead!"_ Harsha transmitted as everyone came across a closed gate where a large group of Britannian commandos were firing at the four Black Knights plus PMC soldier from behind said gate.

_"There's too many of them between us and the chopper! Harsha, we need that Unmanned Ground Vehicle now!"_ Rolo transmitted.

_"You're almost there! Go through the building!"_

"Ivan, this way! Kallen, Tamaki, Rolo, remain in cover!" Zero commanded as he and Ivan entered a house on the right. Back on the Avalon, Suzaku was viewing what the launched Spy Plane was seeing when it was suddenly shot down. Before the 'LOST' message appeared, the Knight of Seven saw a strange looking tower about 250 kilometers away from the enemy safehouse.

"Knight of Seven, what is that?" Schneizel asked.

"We have to assume it's the Knightmare Jammer. Unfortunately it seems that hostile Anti-Aircraft systems are protecting it. There's also something worrying that the Spy Plane saw a few seconds before it saw the jammer and was subsequently downed." Suzaku said before pushing a button and bringing up an image of a Raikou preparing to fire. However, the Raikou had a metal sphere placed on the business end of its barrel.

"What the heck is that thing on the Raikou?!"

"I don't know, but whatever it is can't be good!"

Inside the basement of a small house, Zero grabbed a crowbar and opened a large wooden crate in the middle of the room that had the number 526 on it, revealing a UGV assault drone.

"Unmanned Ground Vehicle. 2 centimeter armor plating, mounted mini-gun, and grenade launcher. Controls are going to be in Russian. Ivan, you're up." Zero said.

The ex-Russian got onto the computer controlling the UGV and turned it on. The monitor began displaying the UGV feed and it read, '[SISTEMA ZAGRUZKI]' - ('[СИСТЕМА ЗАГРУЗКИ]' - '[LOADING SYSTEM]').

_"Harsha, what's N-11's condition?"_ Zero transmitted.

_"We've got to get him out of here!"_ Harsha transmitted.

"Ivan, clear a path to the chopper! We'll be right behind you!" Zero shouted as he lifted up the garage door. On the Avalon, Schneizel's blood ran cold as he saw a garage door open and a vehicle with a mounted mini-gun and grenade launcher rolled out. The mini-gun began to spool up and then it opened fire, killing all of the Britannian commandos behind the closed gate.

"What the hell is that thing!?" Schneizel asked.

Suzaku did a thermal scan on the vehicle and said, "It has to be an Unmanned Ground Vehicle! Judging by its specs, it's a Russian-made unmanned weapon that can take on tanks and helicopters just as easily as it can destroy foot soldiers!"

"U- Unmanned!? Does that mean nobody's inside it!?"

"Unfortunately so."

Back with the UGV, it went down a hill and was destroying concrete pillars and barriers that Britannian commandos were taking cover behind. It turned left at the bottom and began engaging enemies on the balconies of a three-floor building. As it moved forward, a VTOL Gunship and two transport copters UGV shot them down quickly and resumed engaing Britannian commandos on the ridge.

_"Ivan, we're moving up! Keep them pinned down!"_ Zero transmitted as the UGV arrived at the evacuation chopper. A large group of hostiles appeared along with the last VTOL Gunship, but the enemy copter was shot down by the UGV as it cleared the area. Zero, Kallen, Tamaki and Rolo covered Harsha as he brought N-11 to the chopper.

"We're at the chopper now! Loading N-11 in!" Zero shouted.

"He's not looking good." Harsha said.

The Avalon unleashed a missile and it disabled the UGV, knocking it over as the fuzzed camera saw the airship in the sky.

The Raikou charged up energy and then fired, launching the sphere towards the Avalon. When it was about four hundred meters above the airship, the sphere split open and revelaed a large Chaos Mine that opened up and unleashed a massive hail of shrapnel onto the Avalon. The ship's Blaze Luminous shields were raised as Suzaku saw it coming, but the raining shrapnel ultimately proved to be too much for them to handle as only a few seconds after the shields were raised, their color changed from green to yellow to orange and finally red until they were broken by the sheer amount of shrapnel being unleashed and it proceeded to inflict an extremely heavy amount of damage on the Avalon as an officer exclaimed, "Charlie Foxtrot!" Suzaku got up after the shrapnel ceased to come and shouted, "Officer, status report!"

"The Avalon has been severely damaged! Ship integrity is at thirteen percent right now!" a bridge officer reported.

Schneizel then ordered, "Everyone, we're getting the hell outta here!" as something appeared on the display.

"What the fuck!?" an officer said.

"How is that possible!?" another one asked.

"We're all gonna die!" a third panicked.

"That- that was a Chaos Mine! But how- How did the Black Knights create one so large and powerful!?" Suzaku shouted as the Avalon retreated.

Back on the ground, Ivan had made it back to the chopper and got onboard as it began to take off and escape.

"Ivan's onboard." Harsha said calmly.

"Good, we'll need him. We're abandoning this safehouse." Zero said.

"Who the fuck's Ivan?" N-11 asked.

"Huh? Th- That voice! Is it you? Naoto-Nii-Sama!?" Kallen wondered in a happy tone.

"Wh- what? Is- is that you, Kallen?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And what do we know, N-11 turns out to be Kallen's brother Naoto. Next time, more of the Chinese Federation. Also, as for what the PMC uniform looks like, it's basically the clothes worn by the multiplayer model of a Delta Force soldier from Modern Warfare 3.  
><strong>


	3. Forbidden City or Idiotic Negotiating?

Vermillion Forbidden City, Chinese Federation, March, 2018.

It was quite a surprise for Odysseus to find out that Tianzi had found out about the Britannian Empire's attempt to neutralize the Black Knights and her response was to call off the marriage as soon as the Crown Prince of Britannia had arrived. Of course, Schneizel was still furious that a Raikou had managed to severely damage his flagship by using what Camelot now called a Mega Chaos Mine instead of regular ammunition even though he had also been declared 'Persona Non Grata' in the Chinese Federation. Ordinarily, the Blaze Luminous shielding system could stop attacks from even a Gloucester, but it had proved ineffective against such a large Chaos Mine and worse, the Mega Chaos Mine used Sakuradite-Enhanced shrapnel. Even now, four months since the Skirmish at Himichal Pradesh, the Avalon was still being repaired.

The Mega Chaos Mine is a much larger variation of the standard Chaos Mine, being launched from a Raikou instead of thrown by an ordinary Knightmare. Due to its size and the liquid Sakuradite inside, the shrapnel content and firepower of a Mega Chaos Mine is equal to that of 100 Sakuradite-Enhanced Chaos Mines. It is extremely powerful and can lay waste to entire Mobile Battalions and airships, but its use is limited against single targets unless unleashed at close range. Only the Black Knights use the Mega Chaos Mine as a Raikou artillery cannon is required to fire its spherical container to where it can inflict the most damage. The Mega Chaos Mine is also very sensitive to Oxygen and will unleash its shrapnel once it is released from its container.

At a negotiations table in the Empress's residence sat a Britannian diplomat, Kyoshiro Tohdoh, Tianzi, Zheng Na, Li Xingke, and Tamaki. They were busy discussing the Skirmish at Himichal Pradesh and at the moment, things were going absolutely nowhere. Tamaki had been quite adamant in believing that the Britannians were planning to invade the Chinese Federation and that the attempt to neutralize the Black Knights had only been a prelude to the main invasion.

"I honestly don't know what you're talking about. The Empire is not considering invasion of the Federation." the diplomat said.

"Bullshit! The Britannian troops that were fought by the Black Knights at the Himichal Pradesh safehouse, including me, were all Special Forces! The only reason we're even alive is because radar had picked them up long before their arrival and we set up a proper defense!" Tamaki yelled at the diplomat.

Meanwhile in another room, Naoto was busy reading with Kallen while negotiations were occurring. Honestly, he was sure that they would break down before the end of the day and Britannia would get a war coming. After he had his injuries patched up at another safehouse, Naoto had told Kallen that during the botched mission that had gotten him 'killed' in the past, he had ducked out at the last minute and sent a body double to lead the resistance cell for that mission. He had broken down and considered himself a coward afterward because he couldn't tell anyone or else his cover would have been blown. After making the Britannians believe that he was dead with the body double, Naoto had gotten onto a small motorboat and fled to the Chinese Federation. He had immediately joined the PMC and served in it up to when the Skirmish at Himichal Pradesh occurred.

Naoto was now a member of the Black Knights, but he and Kallen weren't on speaking terms until Febuary. That was when her aloofness was replaced with relief that her brother was still alive. Kallen had told Naoto on what had happened with the resistance cell since his body double died. Naoto was pleased to hear that Kallen had continued to attend Ashford Academy up until the SAZ massacre while putting up a 'sickly girl' act while helping the resistance cell, even when Zero had taken control.

While wandering through Shanghai, C.C. had made it a point to keep a low profile and had managed to figure out that trouble was brewing at the Forbidden City. She had a lot of things to think about and decided that she should find Lelouch when he had mysteriously disappeared along with all of the Black Knights. She knew that he was alive, even though a public television broadcast sent by Diethard Ried had convinced many people otherwise by showing someone who looked like Lelouch Lamperouge being executed by the Black Knights on the charge of 'being a Britannian spy.' Once at the Vermillion Forbidden City two days later, C.C. had been told by Kallen and Tamaki that Zero would arrive in two more days as his presence was required for a war council that Tianzi was gathering. Apparently Tianzi was going to declare war on Britannia now that the time that the Black Knights had left Britannia alone for had passed and she needed every good strategist in the Federation on the war council, including Harsha and Zero.


	4. War Council

Vermillion Forbidden City, Chinese Federation, March, 2018.

Today was the day that the war council would meet. Tianzi, Tohdoh, Zero, Harsha, Xingke, Naoto, Taizo Kirihara, C.C, and Kaguya Sumeragi were all present inside the same room where the Britannian diplomat had tried to tell everyone that Britannia was focused on destroying the Black Knights only to be told off by Tamaki that Britannia wouldn't hesitate to make China proper another Area. Right now, all of Britannia's diplomatic personnel had been kicked out of the Federation and a wartime atmosphere was in the air. Many ordinary citizens were calling for the blood of Britannia and Tianzi would not deny them. Military recruitment skyrocketed and the independence movement in the Militarized Zone of India dissipated with many of its members wanting to fight the Britannian Empire. When C.C. came to help with the war delegation, she called herself Celenia Cornwallis, which worked since Zero know that it was not her real name.

"Everyone, please settle down. We are here to discuss strategy for the upcoming war with the Holy Empire of Britannia." Tianzi said.

"We will need to keep tabs on the enemy's Knightmare Frame developments. I fear that the situation is not the same as it was seven months ago." Zero spoke.

"How is Rakshata's work coming along right now?" Tohdoh asked.

"She'll have a new revolutionary airship developed within three weeks in addition to her current Knightmare projects. The components have been difficult to create and stabilize, but I can trust that the Susanoo will have been completed in seventeen days. On another note, Naoto, do we have any new information on the Britannians right now?"

"Yes, but it is also worrying. An organization called the Geass Order is based within the Chinese Federation. Rolo told the Black Knights about this information after he defected from the Britannians, so it is likely that the Empire controls the Order. Before we can even begin to prepare to invade Area Eleven and grab the world's largest Sakuradite supply, we need to deal with this domestic problem before it becomes our downfall." Naoto said.

"Duly noted. Unless our home base is secure, it would be foolish to attack our homeland." Taizo noted.

"However Zero, when we do launch our invasion of Area Eleven, what will happen to any members of the Imperial Family that our forces capture?" Kaguya asked.

"They will be interrogated first and then killed once we have extracted all information out of them if Second Prince Schneizel is among our captives. Schneizel is a family man, so if we can't capture him, we'll kidnap any other Princes and Princesses to get to him and make him lose his cool. This especially holds true for a certain exiled prince who was executed by us and a certain blind and crippled princess." Zero answered.

"The translation of what Zero just said is that Schneizel really cares about Princess Nunnally, so if we capture her he will do anything to rescue her." Celenia added.

"On the bright side, if we do capture Princess Nunnally I'll be able to see her again!" Kaguya said cheerfully.

"Wait, does that mean that you have met her before, Kaguya?" Zero asked.

"Pretty much. She can be quite a handful since the other members of the now defunct Six Houses of Kyoto have had to appease Miss Kaguya and accept any and all of her demands." Taizo answered.

"The Navy and Knightmare forces of Britannia are the greatest threat to of Chinese Federation bar none. Sure, we could use jamming towers to stop enemy Knightmares, but the Navy's a whole different story. Dealing with them will require a different strategy." Xingke said.

"And my loyal soldiers in the PMC have been itching for another fight with the Britannians for quite awhile." Harsha added.

Very well, do we have any commanders who have had experience fighting at sea?" Tianzi asked.

Xingke's hand shot upward and the young Empress said, "It has been decided that Xingke shall lead our naval forces once we are ready to attack Area Eleven. Before we attack though, Zero will lead the Black Knights and with them attack the Geass Order. We were all told about this power from Zero himself and he also said that the Emperor of Britannia himself possesses Geass. Judging by Zero's own words and other information, the Geass Order is a far greater threat than the Britannian forces currently in Area Eleven. Zero, Harsha, Tohdoh, Celenia, and Taizo shall command the ground troops. Kaguya and I shall command the newly-formed Home Guard army in the event of a Britannian attack on the Federation. I now hereby declare this war council disbanded."


	5. Capturing the Directorate

"Lelouch."- speaking

_'Shit.'_- thoughts

_"Roger."_- Radio/Walkie-Talkie

Sanctuarty of the Geass Order, Chinese Federation, March, 2018.

_"This is Hunter Team One. We're in position."_ a Black Knight transmitted.

_"Hunter Team Two is ready. Your call, Zero."_ Naoto transmitted.

_"All personnel, the mission is a go. Eliminate all hostile Geass users and then gather up near the Thought Elevator. Your Knightmare Frames for this operation are unique Sutherlands that have specialized equipment that will single out enemy Geass users, making it easier for us to complete our mission while minimizing civilian casualties. If the Order is any indication as to their goals, their senior members will attempt to intervene. Hunter Team Three, your objective is to eradicate any Geass Order members that you find. Zero out."_ Zero transmitted before his radio fell silent.

It was relatively easy to find and kill the Geass users that were amongst the civilians due to the specialized equipment that was on the Black Knights' Sutherlands. Furthermore, no enemy Knightmares apart from a few modified Glasgows painted in the colors of the Order were present. All in all, it took only five minutes for the Black Knights to annihilate the Geass Order's members and the Geass users that had been created. Once everyone had gathered at the Thought Elevator, Zero got out of his specialized Sutherland and Rolo exited after him.

_"All personnel, watch the entrance of the Thought Elevator for any suspicious activity. I'm going inside with Rolo."_ Zero transmitted before turning his radio off.

"You sure that we can pull this off?" Rolo asked.

"If we had no chance of winning, then we would not have bothered coming here." Zero answered as the two of them walked in.

Meanwhile in Pendragon, V.V. had finished giving a report to Charles zi Britannia about the Ragnarok Connection. The Emperor said, "Well, all that matters now is to find the last Thought Elevator and then we just need C.C. and we can bring forth a world without lies."

V.V.'s radio suddenly started buzzing and he pulled it up to his right ear and asked, _"Jeremiah, what is it?"_

_"Lord V.V, the Geass Order's been overrun! I was almost captured by the Black Knights!"_ Jerremiah transmitted.

_"What's the status of all of our Geass soldiers?"_

_"I'm sorry, my lord. The Geass soldiers are all dead. The Black Knights must have had something in their Knightmares to help them single out our trump cards and kill them. Aside from that traitor Rolo, Alice is still alive since she wasn't here at the Sanctuary when the Black Knights attacked."_

_"Don't worry. We can replace our losses. We'll just have to find a new location."_

_"I hear you. The enemy was totally focused on destro-"_ Jeremiah was interrupted by gunfire that V.V. could hear through the radio and then the disgraced Margrave said, _"Dammit, I've been exposed! How did-"_ and then all V.V. heard was static.

"Jeremiah, do you read me? Jeremiah, come in! Jeremiah? Jeremiah!" V.V. shouted as his face threated to bring tears and then said, "We've lost the Geass Order, brother. The Black Knights found the Sanctuary in the Chinese Federation and captured it."

"Damn it. We'll have no choice but to declare war on the Federation and render it another area just to reclaim the Thought Elevator there. Anyway, Schneizel is beginnning war preparations as we speak, so we might be able to avenge our fallen comrades who died protecting the Sanctuary." the Emperor said.

Meanwhile in the Black Knights base, Jeremiah was bound to a chair by several chains inside a small room and then Tamaki came in holding a power drill in his hands and said, "Bad luck for you, Mr. Margrave! We're here to interrogate you and we can either do this the easy way or the hard way! Come on, you Darwinistic dog, which will it be!?"

Jeremiah thought to himself as he mentally prepared himself for a torture session, _'Fuck, this is going to be a very long day for me.'_


	6. Convoluted Planning

"Lelouch."- speaking

_'Shit.'_- thoughts

_"Roger."_- Radio/Walkie-Talkie

Former Japanese Liberation Front base command center, Narita Mountain, April, 2018.

"Okay, so we've set up in here and have the entirety of the former base under our control. The issue now is to make sure that no Britannian forces find this site and attack it before we're ready." Zero said.

"You have that right, Zero. Besides, until we can confirm that Rei can make it through to us, we're on our own." Tohdoh noted.

"Rei can read minds, and just like how my Geass doesn't work on Celenia Cornwallis, Rei is incapable of reading her thoughts. How long did he say until he gets here?"

"About two more days. Also, we've received unconfirmed reports that the Emperor himself will be arriving in Area Eleven at the end of the month along with the Crown Prince, Odysseus."

_'Fuck! This will complicate things later!'_ Zero thought to himself before he said, "Please verify theose reports before we make our next move. Also, how is Xingke doing right now on Hokkaido?"

"He's managed to push back several attempts by Britannian forces to retake the island. Although our raid on the Advanced Special Envoy Enginerring Corps was successful, Cornelia has managed to create a beachhead for a possible counterattack on the Chinese Federation near Shanghai. The Home Guard forces are putting up a tough fight, but the Knight of Seven is using the recently-repaied Avalon to help her hold out until reinforcements can arrive. In the meantime, Taizo and Harsha have been holding onto Kyushu."

Zero knew that Rei would be useful as an ally, but his ability to read minds was a Geass attributed to someone that he could not remember. Then again, C.C. had not yet been given the opportunity to restore Zero's memories as Lelouch. Thinking back on Rolo, Zero was aware that Haliburton had no Geass despite the fact that he had told them about the Order and its base in the Sanctuary, now controlled by the Black Knights. Aside from Rolo, every last member of the Geass Order except for a young girl had been killed during the Black Knights' assault. That girl, Zero found out, was named Alice and according to information that Jeremiah had, she was the personal Knight of Viceroy Nunnally.

When the Chinese Federation had launched their new invasion of Area Eleven, the Black Knights had already weakened the defenses of important military targets on both the Hokkaido and Kyushu Island, aiding the Chinese troops in taking them. The Susanoo, which had been completed only one week ago, had proved to be insturmental in defeating the defense forces on Kyushu. The ship was created with advanced defenses that rendered it immune to regular weapons and even Hadron Blasts and Radiation weapons wouldn't hurt it. Even better, it used two Druid Systems for its power, with one of them for the ship's security systems and engines while another one handled weaponry and radar.

Meanwhile near Kyoto, Rei had just evaded a patrolling squadron of Gloucesters in a white-painted one that he was piloting and began his journey to Narita. Apparently Zero would be there along with Celenia Cornwallis. Rei's mind went back to when he had been called Mao, specifically after he had recovered from being shot by the police. It was after he had escaped that Lelouch had approached Mao and convinced him to go through with a ridiculously convoluted plan to make C.C. believe that he was dead.

The plan detailed that somone who looked like Mao would attempt to kidnap Lelouch's sister Nunnally and hold her underneath Ashford Academy and Lelouch would entertain the body double by playing along with whatever weird idea that the double decided on while the real Mao escaped to Mongolia. Once in Mongolia, Mao was to keep a low profile until a figure named Zero parleyed with then-Viceroy Cornelia to allow the Black Knights to leave Area Eleven. Using the relative calm that would be in that location for six months, Mao would then sneak back into Area Eleven and keep to the countryside until the Chinese Federation declared war on the Holy Britannian Empire. Mao was tempted to not agree when Lelouch said that it was the first half of the plan, but Lelouch mentioned that so long as Emperor Charles zi Britannia lived, the orphan could not live in peace with C.C. Lelouch then explained that although he had commited many sins, they were small stuff compared to the numerous atrocities that the 98th Emperor of Britannia had committed.

As to the second half of the plan, after the Chinese Federation declared war on Britannia, Mao was to make contact with the Black Knights and join them as a spy. His duties were to spy on Britannian military officials and relay any important Intel back to the Black Knights until Kyushu and Hokkaido had been invaded. After the two islands were captured, Mao was to act as a Knightmare pilot for the Black Knights. Lelouch said that to Mao that if he agreed, he could be with C.C. forever in Australia. It was a ridiculously convoluted plan that Lelouch expected Mao to say no to, but the orphan surprisingly agreed to it all, even when Lelouch said that while in the Black Knights, C.C. was to be referred to as Celenia Cornwallis while Mao himself was called Rei.

Rei was shaken out of his reverie when he heard a radio transmission that said, _"We have reason to suspect that Rei was seen in this area. All teams, be on the lookout for a white Gloucester and notify HQ immediately should you see one."_ From the tone of the voice being transmitted, Rei knew that Schneizel was searching for him. Of course, Rei's Gloucester was a unique one equipped with a Chameleon Unit, a stealth system that would allow a Knightmare to blend in with its surroundings.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And now I've made Lelouch/Zero out to be a Manipulative Bastard on par with Mephiles the Dark. Seriously, the whole plan Lelouch set out with Mao was so ridiculously complex that almost anyone who knew would just assume it would fail.**


	7. Subtle Maneuvers and Obvious Ideas

"Lelouch."- speaking

_'Shit.'_- thoughts

_"Roger."_- Radio/Walkie-Talkie/Cellphone

Onboard the Avalon, near the Chinese Federation, April, 2018.

Suzaku was not happy that the Chinese had the gall to invade Area Eleven again during a moment of weakness. _'Why are they insisting on antagonizing Britannia now, even though we were more or less neutral for the past three to four months.'_ he thought as the Avalon launched a third Gloucester. Ten of the darned Knightmares and their pilots had been stationed onboard for the counter-invasion and unfortunately it was not enough for them to turn the tide. Forty Gloucesters had been part of the initial attack force, but over a fourth had been disabled and captured or destroyed by a Chinese Federation unit called the Home Guard. From what little information was obtained, Suzaku knew that his cousin Kaguya was leading some of the Home Guard's forces.

A bridge officer reported, "Sir, more Home Guard Knightmares have arrived at Point Alpha!"

"Have two more pilots launch and head out to clear Point Alpha of all hostiles! We need to hold that location along with Point Bravo so that we have a secure beachhead for the counterattack once Schneizel has Area Eleven under control!" Suzaku ordered.

"Understood, sir!" The officer said before sending an order down to two of the ten Gloucester pilots to move out immediately. While the pilots were getting ready, a report came in from the 7th Imperial naval fleet. It stated that hostile forces that were concentrated on both Kyushu and Hokkaido had anti-ship capabilities and that no counter-invasion force would be arriving in the Chinese Federation due to enemy forces blocking the only two routes leading to the beachhead. The Imperial General leading the fleet recommended abandoning the counter-invasion beachheads and return all forces to Area Eleven. Suzaku hesitated for a few seconds and then turned his radio on before he said, _"Princess Cornelia, what's your status?"_

_"Point Bravo is secure, but more enemy forces are already on their way! Guilford's Knightmare is heavily damaged while myself and nine other pilots can't use our landspinners. How long do we have to hold out for?"_ Cornelia transmitted.

_"I've receive word that we cannot receive reinforcements due to enemy interference! An Imperial General in charge of the 7th fleet recommended that we pull back to Area Eleven and abadon the beachhead positions! We have no choice but to get our revenge on the Chinese at a later time."_

_"I understand. All forces, fall back! We are abandoning this operation!"_ Cornelia said before the transmission was cut.

One of the two pilots that were ready reported in, _"We're ready to launch, Knight of Seven."_

"At ease. We've been ordered to scrap the counter-invasion. We're returning to Area Eleven and you'll be on search duty once we arrive." Suzaku ordered.

_"Who are we looking for?"_ the other pilot asked.

"Area Eleven forces are searching for a white Knightmare believed to be piloted by a member of the Black Knights named Rei. If you see him, notify command immediately."

_"Understood. Sergeant Harvey Cromwell out."_ the first pilot who had been readied said before cutting the transmission.

Meanwhile at Ashford Academy, the normal boring stuff of everyday life was occurring. Rivalz had stopped the gambling runs that he and Lelouch used to go on after seeing the Black Knights execute him and instead intensified his efforts to ask Milly out on a date. The blond-haired female and Shirley were all heartbroken by what the Black Knights had done, but they moved on with their lives while Rivalz was shocked. Most importantly, Nina had left school entirely, having been recruited by Prince Schneizel to work on an unspecified project while the honorary member Nunnally had business to handle as Viceroy and had left school as well. With Lelouch gone and Suzaku being a Knight of the Round, Rivalz had taken over the position of Vice President of the Student Council and had adopted the icy personality that Lelouch had while he had the position, leaving the club with no secretary for a few days.

It took a bit of talking, but Milly had managed to get Sophie to join the Student Council and take the position of Secretary. The new meeting was pretty standard as a new budget had to be decided on. It was not something that Shirley wanted to work on, but Rivalz insisted that Milly's GUTS antic was no longer as effective as it used to be since Lelouch was gone and so the blue-haired Cardemonde boy made the budget the first thing to handle whenever the Student Council met for the first time on any month during the year. It proved to be a smart move as none of the other clubs bothered them at all.

It was when the meeting was over that Rivalz went up to the roof and called a certain number. It took a few seconds before a voice on the other end said, _"Is that you, Cadmod?"_

"Yes it is, Risa. The freighter is already heading for Tokyo Bay. Last I checked, it was going into the Bering Strait." Rivalz said while covering his mouth with his hand.

_"Any idea on what the Student Council is doing?"_

"In about five days we'll be taking a field trip to the Area Eleven administration building. Everyone is still unaware that HE is alive. I won't tell anyone about our little secret, so you don't have to worry about that."

_"Good call, Cadmod. I'd have to fucking kill you if you spill the beans to anyone. Good luck, Cadmod. Risa out."_

"I'll be careful. Cadmod out." Rivalz said before he hung up. He thought to himself as he left the grounds of the academy, _'Lelouch, Kallen, I will want answers from the two of you once we capture Nunnally.'_


	8. Crew Expendable

"Lelouch."- speaking

_"Roger."_- Radio/Walkie-Talkie/Cellphone

Inside the Black Knights' Submarine, somewhere near the Bering Strait, April, 2018.

Zero sighed as he analyzed the data that had been obtained from Rei when he showed up at the Narita base. Apparently some new weapon was being transported to Area Eleven via a sea ship from a shipping company that had been infiltrated by undercover French forces disguised as Britannian soldiers and Kallen, while using the alias Risa, had found out from a sleeper agent named Cadmod that a cargo freighter was transporting the weapon. The two pieces of intelligence matched up perfectly, too perfectly for Zero's tastes.

"So before we set out, let's go over this one more time: The package is onboard a medium freighter. Britannian registration number 68332. There is a small crew and undercover French forces onboard." Zero reiterated.

"Correct. The Britannian Empire has created a new weapon and the European Union wants a piece of it." Kallen said.

"Rules of engagement, Zero?" Ivan asked.

"Crew expendable. The GIGN won't reveal themselves until the deck's been cleared since there are regular Britannian soldiers onboard in addition to the undercover French forces." the leader of the Black Knights answered.

"So how are we getting onto the boat?" Ohgi asked.

"We'll be using a stolen Britannian transport helicopter to rappel onboard."

* * *

><p><em>"Base, this is Nobunaga Six-Three. We have visual on the target. E.T.A. is about sixty seconds."<em> the Black Knight flying the transport helicopter transmitted.

"_Copy, Six-Three."_ An officer from the Black Knights' Submarine transmitted.

The helicopter carried Zero, Kallen, Naoto, and a four-man squadron composed of Tamaki, Inoue, Sugiyama, and Ohgi as it flew towards the cargo ship.

_"Thirty seconds. Going dark."_ the transport helicopter pilot transmitted as the copter flew alongside the ship.

_"Ten seconds. Radio check. Go to secure channel."_ Everyone got ready and that meant putting on their gas masks and pulling out their weapons, which were all suppressed AK-47s.

"Lock and load." Zero ordered. After ten seconds passed, the helicopter had reached the bridge and main deck of the ship.

_"Green light! Go! Go! Go!"_ the helicopter pilot transmitted as Zero, Kallen, and Tamaki fast-roped down from the transport copter, landing on the main deck and outside of the bridge with a few crew members inside.

"Weapons free." Zero ordered as he, Kallen, and Tamaki opened fire and killed the bridge members.

_"Bridge secured."_ Tamaki transmitted.

"Hold your fire! Naoto- stay on the bird till we secure the deck, over." Zero ordered.

_"Roger that."_ Naoto transmitted as Zero kicked open the bridge door. Kallen and Tamaki made their way in and down the stairs with him.

"Squad on me! Stairs clear." Zero said quickly as they reached the bottom and saw a drunken crew member. The unfortunate man didn't notice them and said, "Drink to health, Colonel. . . hic!" and hiccuped before Tamaki killed him.

"Last call; bottoms up. Hallway clear!" Zero declared as the three of them entered the crew's quarters and killed two sleeping crew members.

"Sweet dreams; sleep tight." Tamaki said ironically.

"Crew quarters clear. Move up." Zero ordered as they went out onto the deck.

"Forward deck is cleared! Green light on alpha, go!" the copter pilot transmitted as Naoto, Ohgi, Inoue, and Sugiyama grouped up on Zero after rappelling down from the helicopter. Naoto said, "Ready, sir." And then Zero said, "Fan out. Three meter spread." as the seven Black Knights moved up the ship. Upon seeing two crew members with flashlights on patrol on a platform Naoto said, "Got two on the platform."

"I see 'em." Zero said as everyone approached the platform and then said, "Weapons free."

Tamaki killed them both with suppressed AK-47 fire and Kallen said, "Targets neutralized." Upon reaching the end of the ship crew members on the second floor began to engage the Black Knights.

"We've got company." Naoto remarked.

_"Nobunaga Six-Three, we've got tangos on the second floor."_ Zero transmitted.

_"Roger, engaging."_ the helicopter pilot transmitted as the machine sprayed its mini-gun across the floor, killing all hostiles that were on the second floor.

"Inoue, Tamaki, Ohgi, cover our six. The rest of you, on me." Zero ordered.

"Roger that." Ohgi said.

As Ohgi, Tamaki, and Inoue stayed behind to watch for enemy crew members, the others stacked up at a doorway and then Naoto pulled out a W2100 shotgun and said, "I like to keep this for close encounters."

"Too right, Naoto-san." Sugiyama said.

"On my mark- go." Zero ordered as he opened the door and went inside with Kallen, Naoto, and Sugiyama following him. As they went through the ship's interior, they found several dead crew members and a few dead Britannian soldiers. In the last room Naoto got a strong reading coming from one of the crates at the end of the room and said, "I'm getting a strong reading, sir. You might want to take a look at this."

As the four Black Knights gathered in front of the crate, three men dressed as Britannian soldiers but not wearing the helmet approached them and one of them stepped in front of his comrades and said, "Did you see our handiwork on your way to this crate, Zero?"

"Aye, you guys eliminated the opposition that we would have faced down here. The GIGN do not normally operate so far away from home, but you know that Schneizel has taken it from you." Zero said.

"And we shall work with you to get it back. I am Sabre and these two are Faucon and Démon. I lead these men as I am their commander."

"It's good to meet you guys. Anyways, how are you all going to get off the ship?"

"We seized the lifeboats and plan on going with you guys in case Britannia does something funny. If nothing happens, we stay on the ship and land in Tokyo Bay, disguised as to not draw suspicion."

Naoto opened the crate and immediately Zero turned around and saw that the crate contained a bed that was being occupied by a girl with pink hair. A royal guard who was asleep was lying next to the bed, clothed in a pink-colored uniform, a small box laying at his feet. Zero removed his helmet and asked, "How is this possible!? How is Third Princess Euphemia li Britannia alive?"

Euphemia stirred before waking up and asked, "Who are you people? Where am I?"

"We're onboard a cargo freighter en route to Area Eleven and while I, Zero, am the leader of the Black Knights, Sabre, Faucon, and Démon are from the GIGN." Zero said with complete honesty.

"Wh- what!? I don't understand what you are saying, Lelouch. Can you please tell me what's going on?"

The royal guardsman stirred before getting onto his feet and noticed everyone and said, "You guys outnumber me, so I'll talk. I'm actually not a member of the Royal Guard. In truth, I am a member of the Office of Secret Intelligence or as commoners call it, the OSI. We secretly grabbed Euphemia's corpse after she died and after repairing her wounds, we had somehow managed to get her heart going again. However, she had been dead for about seven minutes and as a result she does not remember anything from the past eleven years as she has suffered extensive brain damage."

"So that's why Euphemia's alive right now." Kallen said.

"Anyways, I am your prisoner now. Do what you will with me, Zero. I have weapon blueprints on my person, but the weapon itself is inside the small box." the OSI man said.

"Sugiyama, can you grab that box? Kallen, Naoto, you two should restrain that man. Euphemia, you're coming with us." Zero said.

Zero watched as Sugiyama picked up the small box and got out of the crate as the Kozuki siblings cuffed the man and led him away and then walked over to Euphemia's bed and picked her up before walking out of the crate and carrying the Third Princess bridal style. _"Nobunaga Six-Three, what's your status?"_ he transmitted.

_"I just picked up Kallen, Naoto, their prisoner, and Tamaki. I'll come back to extract you and everyone else in three minutes. I'm sorry, but I'm currently at bingo fuel and must return to the submarine or risk crashing." _the helicopter pilot transmitted._  
><em>

_"That's alright. Base, anything going on?"_

_"Two Britannian aircraft are heading your way fast! Has the weapon been secured?"_ the submarine officer transmitted.

_"Aye, I have it. Zero has also found and captured Euphemia li Britannia, who is believed to have died in the SAZ massacre eight months ago."_ Sugiyama transmitted.

_"Understood. Enemy aircraft will be in striking distance of the freighter in three minutes. Use that time to get above deck."_

"Alright everyone, we need to get onto the deck very soon. Sabre, how many of your men are on the ship?"

"I've got thirty troops, not counting myself and my two comrades."

"Tell them to get on the ship's deck ASAP! Britannian aircraft are rapidly approaching!" Zero shouted.

"Understood." Sabre said as he left with Faucon and Démon. Zero himself maintained a steady jog back to the deck. Once there, Ohgi and Inoue were waiting as was Sabre. "My men have already left the ship. I'm the only GIGN man still onboard now." he said.

_"One minutes until enemy aircraft are in striking distance of the ship."_ the submarine officer transmitted.

_"Nobunaga Six-Three, status?"_ Zero transmitted.

_"I'm on my way. Currently at 25% fuel and ETA is forty-five seconds."_ the helicopter pilot transmitted.

_"Bollocks, you need to double time it! I've got an Imperial Princess in our hands and if the Emperor is any indication, he'll sacrifice her and the entire ship just to get rid of us!"_

After only thirty five seconds passed, the transport helicopter arrived and Zero got on first while carrying Euphemia. He was then followed by Ohgi, then Inoue, Sugiyama, and finally Sabre. It all took twenty seconds for everyone to get onboard and when the helicopter began to fly away from the ship, it was then that two missiles fired by Britannian jets struck the cargo freighter.

_"Base, this is Nobunaga Six-Three. Package is secure and we are returning to base. Out."_ the helicopter pilot transmitted as the transport copter flew away while the ship sunk.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: You guys probably weren't expecting this, but what we have here in this chapter is a Christmas miracle.  
><strong>


	9. Orange Released

"Lelouch."- speaking

_"Roger."_- Radio/Walkie-Talkie

Former Japanese Liberation Front base holding cells, Narita Mountain, April, 2018.

Jeremiah Gottwald really wanted to break out of his cell and find out who Zero was, but at the moment it was completely impossible for him to even move since he was bound to his chair by iron chains. It was mortifying for him since the Black Knights had extracted all important information from the former guardsman after five brutal torture sessions. Worse, Zero never presided over any of them as he often had other business to attend to. The blue-haired guard had been subjected to power drills boring holes into his leg bones, zapped by electrical currents, waterboarding, and even challenged to a drinking game. His captors made a point to not kill him since Zero made it clear that Jeremiah would serve an important role later because of the Geass Canceller in his left eye.

Although Euphemia wasn't tortured, C.C. had restored the Third Princess's memories upon arrival and as a result Zero had her locked within a stasis field in addition to a holding cell just to prevent the pink-haired young woman from killing anyone. The stasis field was being maintained by a stasis field generator receiving energy from a power generator outside the base that was disguised as a boulder so that nobody would suspect anything and the stasis field had Euphemia completely immobilized. Even then, the holding cell that held the Third Princess had been designed so that it was impossible for one person to open it; it required five people entering the door code at the same time. The stasis field was only disabled for fifteen minute intervals every six hours to allow her to eat, drink, and handle personal hygiene. Just to make sure that any Black Knights with loyalty issues held in the holding cells didn't subject Euphemia to prison rape, her holding cell had a personal shower inside.

The door to Jeremiah's cell opened and Tamaki stepped in along with two Black Knights wearing gas masks.

"What is it now? Feeling like subjecting me to another torture session? I already gave you all of the information that I had." The blue-haired guard said.

"Nope. Zero wants to talk to you. He sent me to drag you to the command center. Boys, release his restraints." Tamaki said.

The gas mask-wearing members of the Black Knights proceeded to remove the iron chains and then grabbed Jeremiah before following Tamaki to the command center. Once there, Tamaki said to Zero, "Boss, I've brought you the specified prisoner."

Zero turned around and said, "Very good, Tamaki. Cover his left eye so that he can't use his Geass Canceller."

Tamaki proceeded to cover the covering over Jeremiah's left eye with his left hand so that even if the blue-haired man wanted to, he couldn't use his Geass Canceller. Zero then removed his helmet and said, "Remember this, Orange Boy?"

"N- No way! It- It's you! Lelouch vi Britannia, the only son of late Empress Marianne vi Britannia!" Jeremiah exclaimed, surprised to find that the long-thought to be dead Eleventh Prince was Zero.

"Correct, although to the public at large, Lelouch was executed by the Black Knights for being a spy. Thanks to Diethard Ried, I've convinced most of the world that I am dead by publicly broadcasting a body double of me being executed for espionage. Anyways, I offer you a choice."

"Clearly I can choose to either join your organization or remain with Britannia. If I remain with Britannia, obviously I'll either be executed or remain imprisoned. However, I swore loyalty to Empress Marianne and her children and I place that loyalty above my own oaths to the Empire. Therefore, I will defect from Britannia and join the Black Knights."

"I must leave for two days to check Rakshata's progress on the Shinkiro in ten minutes. Once I leave, you will be allowed full access to the resources of the Black Knights. Please, be aware that you are and will still be restrained until I leave. When I return, I will catch you up to speed on our goals and current situation."

Zero then left the command center and ten minutes later when Tamaki's radio buzzed, he brought it up to his ear with his right hand and said, "This is Tamaki."

_"I've left the base. Jeremiah is no longer to be restrained and his current order from me is to see Princess Euphemia for the purpose of using his Geass Canceller on her. Once he is inside her cell and the door is closed, disable the stasis field so that the Geass Canceller can work its magic."_ Zero transmitted.

"Understood." Tamaki said before cutting the transmission and saying, "Boys, let him go."

The two Black Knights that were holding Jeremiah Gottwald released him and then Tamaki stopped covering the metal cover that shielded Jeremiah's left eye before he said, "Zero's orders for you right now are to head back into the holding cell area and head for where we are holding Princess Euphemia. Once we open the door, head inside her holding cell and wait until the stasis field immobilizing the Princess is disabled. Once the field is down, use your Geass Canceller on Euphemia."

"Okay, but why immobilize Princess Euphemia with a stasis field? Isn't a holding cell enough?" Jeremiah asked.

"Euphemia is currently under the influence of a Geass order that is compelling her to kill any Eleven that she sees, so the stasis field is for our own safety as well as hers. I don't know how it works, but a stasis field also interferes with Geass and anyone who is trapped in one, such as Princess Euphemia right now, cannot be affected by Geass while the stasis field is active, regardless of if the Geass works by eye contact or not. It works both ways too, so if a Geass user is trapped in one, he or she can't use it to break out and I'm sure that the same restriction applies to the Geass Canceller." Tamaki said before telling the blue-haired man about Geass and its effects.

Jeremiah went down to the holding cell area and waited outside of the cell that was holding the Third Princess. There were five members of the Black Knights waiting at five separate wall panels that were all connected to the same door. They saw him and nodded as they entered the door codes at the same time. Upon doing so, the cell door opened and Jeremiah entered it before it closed behind him. Jeremiah then saw that a mysterious blue glow currently surrounded Euphemia. He concluded that it must be the stasis field and waited for it to shut off. Upon doing so, the blue glow shimmered before disappearing and it was then that the metal cover that was over the former guardsman's left eye retreated and revealed an inverted Geass symbol that was blue in color.

The red rings that were around Euphemia's eyes disappeared as they stared directly into the gaze of the Geass Canceller. After they did so, the metal cover reappeared over Jeremiah's left eye and the Third Princess was left in a daze before she said, "Huh? What happened to me?"

"I used my Geass Canceller on you, your highness. Do you remember anything about what you had been ordered to do?"

"Y- Yes. I had been told to kill the Japanese. I- I really didn't want to follow it, but. . . I had no choice but to follow that order." Euphemia said as tears formed in her eyes before she broke down and cried into Jeremiah's chest. Once she was done crying Jeremiah told her, "As it stands right now, we are currently inside the former Headquarters of the Japanese Liberation Front at Narita Mountain. The Black Knights have taken it over and we're using it as our primary base for the time being. According to some of them, Britannia has been abusing its power and those that are unfit to rule are either cast out or crushed underneath the Empire's massive foot."

"And what about the Special Administrative Zone?"

"It failed, your highness. Zero and the Black Knights were left with no choice but to kill you and Cornelia's response was to start getting the military ready to kill Elevens by the hundreds. They never got the opportunity to commit genocide as Zero parleyed with Cornelia and managed to get her to agree to allowing the Black Knights to leave Area Eleven in exchange for not murdering any Elevens that remained in the country. The only ones who stayed in the end were the Honorary Britannians. Everyone else, including the Six Houses of Kyoto, had opted to leave."

After the cell door was opened again, Euphemia was escorted into a small room where Kallen waited and from there further details were explained. Once the two Black Knights were done talking, Princess Euphemia reiterated, "So the Chinese Federation and the Black Knights have joined forces and launched an invasion of Area Eleven?"

"Correct. We currently control both the Kyushu and Hokkaido islands and the Chinese have been fortifying their defenses on the islands while the Black Knights engage the Britannian military in guerrilla warfare here on Honshu. The main focus is on Mount Fuji as there are plans for the Sakuradite mines there to be used as weapons of last resort in case of a successful attack on the Tokyo Settlement by the Empire's enemies. Essentially, Schneizel has been ordered to detonate the Sakuradite mines and render Area Eleven uninhabitable if the Tokyo Settlement cannot be held by Britannian forces. Zero wishes to make sure that such a tactic doesn't work and as a result many of the attacks so far have been in the Mount Fuji area. Quite a few of the mines have been captured and many more have been shuttered because of the fighting, so production has fallen by around 65%. That being said, whenever the Black Knights shut down a mine, they send troops in to conduct a final sweep and dispose of any explosives. Capturing a mine is basically the same thing, but is harder to do since it also requires not damaging or destroying too much of the mining equipment before the final sweep is made." Kallen answered.

"In any case, since you are no longer being influenced by Geass your situation will change. You'll be treated as an honored guest instead of a regular prisoner of war, although you will still not be allowed to leave the base. In all honesty, it's better than what the current Viceroy has to deal with." Jeremiah said to Euphemia.

Meanwhile at the Area Eleven Administration Building, specifically inside the Viceroy's office, Eleventh Princess Nunnally vi Britannia sneezed while sitting at her desk and Alice asked her, "Are you alright, your highness?"

"Yes, Alice. However, I feel as if someone is talking about me while I cannot talk to them." Nunnally answered sadly.

"I hope that this doesn't foreshadow any trouble for any of us. The nobility is corrupt enough as it is right now. Next thing I know, they'll try to push in some measure that will let them leech more money away from both the commoners and the Honorary Britannians. On to more pleasant business, in two days we will be hosting a tour of the building that has been put into that day's schedule so that we can show the Student Council of Ashford Academy around for their field trip. The Student Council will be expected to arrive around 10:05 AM, so we need to be ready to greet them at 11:45 when the tour visits the Viceroy's Office."


	10. Fallen Noble: Setup

"Lelouch."- speaking

_"Roger."_- Radio/Walkie-Talkie/Cellphone

Black Knights underground research facility, Saitama Ghetto, Tokyo Area, April, 2018.

Rakshata saw Zero enter the room that she inhabited while working and said to him, "I know that you're here to check up on the progress of the Shinkiro. The Ejection System is installed and the Diffusion Structure Phase Transition Cannon has been reworked so that my precious child doesn't have to lower its shields to fire it. Overall, progress is at sixty-five percent."

"Good. Please continue your work so that it will be fully operational once we are ready to attack the Tokyo Settlement." Zero said to the Indian scientist before leaving the room.

As Zero walked down the hallway, he noticed C.C. and motioned for her to follow him and she did so. They stopped in a small room that was across from Rakshata's sleeping quarters and once they were in, Zero said to C.C, "Now is the perfect opportunity."

Zero removed his helmet and the green-haired immortal saw Lelouch's face before she decided to walk up to him and then restored the raven-haired young man's memories. Once Lelouch recovered, he then said, "According to Kallen, the Student Council back at Ashford Academy are going to be visiting the Area Eleven Administration Building tomorrow and she said that during that visit would be the time to execute Operation Fallen Noble. I had her send orders to our sleeper agent in Ashford, Cadmod, and now we just need to get into position and wait."

"Do any other members of the Black Knights know about this?" C.C. asked.

"I had already contacted them and told them about the operation and they agreed to it. Now I ask of you, do you know what Operation Fallen Noble is?"

"No. I do not know what Operation Fallen Noble is supposed to be."

"It is really simple; Operation Fallen Noble has only one objective, and that objective is to kidnap the current Viceroy of Area Eleven. I already know who our target is, and I'm sure that you know who it is as well."

C.C. thought about what Zero was saying for a few moments and then gasped before saying, "You're launching this operation to capture your own sister."

"Exactly, but you know which one, right?"

"Eleventh Princess Nunnally vi Britannia, I would hypothesize?"

"Bingo! Now Cadmod should be on his way to get what he needs right now."

Meanwhile at Ashford Academy, Rivalz had just finished classes for the day and went to his bike with the intention of riding out to the Shinjuku Ghetto. Upon arrival, he was approached by an old Eleven man and given a heavy handbag that had something inside. Deciding not to ask what the bag's contents were, Rivalz went back to the Academy and placed the bag with the stuff he would be bringing with him during the trip to the Administration Building. It was then that his cellphone rang and he looked at the number and smirked. He then answered, _"This is Cadmod."_

_"I trust that you have all necessary supplies?"_

_"Yes, Zero. The Sleep Gas Satchels were given to me by the old man as Risa had said."_

_"Good. Now then, let's discuss what you need to do tomorrow."_

_"Understood."_ Rivalz said as he and Zero talked over what the blue-haired young man would be doing.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Yep, next chapter is going to be capture time. Hope you people enjoy this one because I now have a computer again!  
><strong>


	11. Operation: Fallen Noble

"Lelouch."- speaking

_'Baka.'_- thoughts

_"Roger."_- Radio/Walkie-Talkie/Cellphone

Area Eleven Administration Building, Viceroy's Office, Tokyo, April, 2018.

"And this room is the Viceroy's Office. Feel free to look around and greet the Viceroy, but please be courteous should you choose to speak to her or her assistant." Villetta Nu said as she escorted the Student Council inside the room. Rivalz knew that the Viceroy was currently dealing with paperwork and wouldn't notice unless she was spoken to directly. Knowing this, he saw an inconspicuous pile of things near the door and took a picture of the pile with his camera before planting the last of his Sleep Gas Satchels on the pile. It was disguised as one of the items in the pile so that there was no risk of it being discovered.

Rivalz suddenly felt the urge to go to the bathroom and asked. It was granted, but Villetta herself would escort the young man to the men's room. She followed Rivalz just outside the door to the restroom and as he got into an unoccupied stall, he first did his business and then pulled a gas mask out of his backpack and put it on before his hand pressed a button on a device that was clipped to his uniform. Rivalz then pulled a radio out of his uniform and said, _"This is Cadmod, my orders have been fulfilled. Zero, your orders?"_

_"Assist Team Two is securing the High Value Individual (H.V.I.) and anyone else with her. Zero out."_

_"Roger that. Cadmod out."_ Rivalz said before putting the radio away.

Back in the Viceroy's Office, the Sleep Gas Satchel that Rivalz had planted was releasing an unknown sleeping agent into the air and since Princess Nunnally couldn't see, she was the first person in the room to fall asleep as she sniffed the air upon noticing that it was different than earlier and breathed in the gas. Alice was next and fell asleep before she could wake up her protectee. The sleep gas then knocked out Sophie, Milly, and Shirley. In other rooms within the building, similar satchels were releasing the same gas and it was even being released into the ventilation system of the building. Meanwhile in the garage, Zero and three teams composed of ten members of the Black Knights had gathered and then Zero said, "Alright, let's begin Fallen Noble, Phase Two. Team Three, remain down here and keep any Britannian forces away from our vehicles. Team Two, head for the Viceroy's Office and capture the Viceroy and anyone else with her, then bring them here. Team One, you're on cleaning duty and sweeping for any Britannian forces that are still awake."

As two of the teams left to complete their objectives, Private Brian Walker cursed his luck as he came upon the sleeping form of Villetta Nu. Unlike him, she had not been able to put a gas mask on and was knocked out as a result. The private picked up her body and carried it into a sitting room that didn't have any gas leaking in from either the air vents or out of a satchel before waking her up.

"Where am I, Private?" she asked.

"Sitting room number twenty-three. Unknown terrorists have planted sleep gas satchels throughout the building and even the ventilation ducts are spreading the knockout agent around. Please put your gas mask on and then we need to check up on the Viceroy." Private Walker said before giving the Knight a gas mask. She put it on and then the door burst open and three members of the Black Knights that wore gas masks opened fire and forced both Villetta and Brian to take cover.

"This is One-Six, we have Britannians awake." one of them, obviously a male, said into a radio.

"One-Six, you along with One-Five and Euphie are to pin them down while Team Two completes its objective. Once they are done, fall back to the garage and then return to your vehicle. Two-One out." a voice on the other end said.

"Understood. One-Six out." the Black Knight member said before cutting the transmission. Back at the Viceroy's Office, the ten members of Team Two plus Rivalz had entered the room and Two-One said to the gas mask-wearing sleeper agent, "So you're Cadmod, eh? Well then, consider yourself a member of Team Two now, new designation is Two-Eleven. Grab the Viceroy and follow me back to the garage."

"Yes, sir." Rivalz said before walking over to the sleeping Nunnally and began carrying her with the assistance of Two-Two. Two-Three and Two-Four had grabbed Nunnally's assistant while Milly, Shirley, and Sophie were being carried off by six other members of Team Two, with Two-One not being any of those members. The team then began to head to the garage and it took five minutes to get there. Once inside the garage Zero said, "We should split them up, two for each vehicle. The Viceroy will be with me in Team One's vehicle."

The troop compartments of three BTR-80s opened and Zero pointed to the nearest one and said, "I'll be in there. Cadmod, Two-Two, follow me inside."

* * *

><p>No less than thirty minutes later, Cornelia looked extremely pissed off. She had just reached the security room of the Administration Building and looked at the security footage of when the Black Knights had struck. During the short firefight that had played out near the lobby at 11:50 sharp, one of the Black Knights had removed their helmet and proclaimed herself to be Euphemia li Britannia.<p>

Cornelia thought to herself, _'Euphie is alive!? I can't believe it. Yet why did she join those damned terrorists!?'_ before shaking her head and saying to nobody in particular as she activated the PA system of the building, "Listen up! I, Cornelia li Britannia, am taking over as Viceroy of Area Eleven!"

A Britannian soldier who was in the room silently acknowledged Cornelia and ran off to reiterate her proclamation. Cornelia then went back to where her Gloucester was parked and got in it before booting up the Knightmare's systems. She then said, "Guilford, Darlton, how are you guys?" as her Knights appeared on two separate screens.

"We're both ready to kick ass, your highness!" Guilford said.

"Ready, your highness. What's the situation?" Darlton said.

Cornelia was unaware that Suzaku was listening in on her communication channel from the Lancelot as she said, "The Black Knights have openly declared their hostility to the Empire and have kidnapped Princess Nunnally! Are any units currently in pursuit!?"

"Six VTOL Gunships are currently in pursuit of three suspect vehicles in the Settlement. Forwarding the images to you." Darlton said as he sent pictures of the three BTR-80s to Cornelia's Gloucester.

_'So those are the vehicles, eh? Russian BTR-80 troop transports. Interesting.'_ Cornelia thought to herself before she opened a video channel to the Avalon. Onboard the airship, Schneizel noticed that Cornelia was calling him and opened the channel before saying, "What is it, Cornelia?"

"Requesting permission to take over as Viceroy of Area Eleven, Prime Minister. I'll handle the necessary paperwork later because we have an urgent situation on our hands at the moment."

"What could be so disastrous that Nunnally wouldn't be able to handle it?"

"That's the problem, Schneizel. The Black Knights have kidnapped Nunnally. Sending you security footage from the Area Eleven Administration Building." Cornelia said before sending the video logs that confirmed the Second Prince's worst fears to the Avalon.

Viewing the security logs, Schneizel knew that Cornelia wasn't lying and said, "You have full authorization to become Viceroy of Area Eleven. Also, it seems that your sister Euphemia is alive. I don't know how or why, but she's joined the Black Knights. If she is spotted, your orders are to capture her."

"I hear you." Cornelia said before cutting the transmission. Meanwhile inside one of the BTRs, which were now rolling down the highway, Alice could hear some of the Black Knights talking as she silently woke up. She then panicked upon realizing that she wasn't with Nunnally and had to be restrained by Ohgi.

"Whoa whoa whoa, ma'am, you need to calm down first." Ohgi said while remaining calm himself. It took about forty-five seconds for Alice to calm down and when she did she asked, "Where is Nunnally?"

"Oh, the Eleventh Princess? She's with Zero in another BTR right now." Unfortunately the commotion caused by Alice had woken up the other Britannian captive who was in this BTR. The captive had blond hair and seemed terrified.

"Who are you two anyway? I'm Kaname Ohgi and although you seem worried, I swear my blood that I am not a pedophile." Ohgi said to the two Britannian captives.

"My name is Alice, assistant to Princess Nunnally." Alice spoke up.

"Milly Ashford, President of the Student Council at Ashford Academy. It's nice to meet you, Mr. Ohgi." Milly said with a terrified look on her face.

"Please relax, Ms. Ashford. None of us here are going to kill you. By the way, since you mentioned Ashford Academy, by any chance are you acquainted with Kallen?" Ohgi asked.

"Yes. Before the SAZ massacre, she was an excellent student who had a 4.0 Grade Point Average despite her frequent illnesses. She mysteriously left after the massacre occurred."

"I hate to be the one to break it to you, but that 'sickly girl' Kallen that you know is just an act. She's actually a high-ranking member of the Black Knights. Of course since we captured you, you would figure it out eventually. Still, you and Alice will be our prisoners along with those two other girls that Team Two brought with them when they came back to the garage of the Administration Building."

"What will happen to Nunnally though?" Alice asked.

"She'll be our honored guest and treated fairly. As for you, Milly, and the other two captives, you'll be treated as Prisoners of War (POW's) and held inside holding cells." Ohgi answered.

**A/N: Well, it seems the Black Knights have now stirred up a hornet's nest by kidnapping Nunnally. Next chapter, Suzaku begins to dig into the deep dark secrets of the OSI.**


	12. OSI Infiltration, Part One

_'Baka.'_- thoughts

Office of Secret Intelligence Area Eleven branch headquarters, lobby, Hiroshima, May, 2018.

Suzaku peeked his head out of a ventilation duct and used his infrared goggles to see the laser sensors that were monitoring the floor. Seeing as how he would not be able to traverse the floor safely, the Knight of Seven clung to the wall, aware that there were pressure sensors hidden inside them at specific points as he made his way to the elevator. Once he reached it, Suzaku then pushed the button and heard the elevator door open before he felt his body move on its own into the elevator in such a way that no sensors were set off. He then pushed the button for the B5, the lowest level that the elevator could access and the door closed before the elevator began its descent. Once it stopped, Suzaku immediately got onto the elevator's ceiling before the door opened as he saw a Britannian Sentry Gun unleash a hail of bullets into where the Knight had once been.

Staying on the ceiling as he advanced to the door that was behind the Sentry Gun, Suzaku noticed that the weapon didn't notice him at all, even when the Honorary Britannian sneezed out loud and he was certain that an alarm would have AT LEAST been set off. Yet, an alarm didn't sound when he had sneezed. Suzaku thought that something bad was going to happen to him later because of all the luck he has so far as he went through the door and down a flight of stairs into an ordinary-looking hallway that, upon inspecting with the infrared goggles, was being monitored by motion detectors on the floor AND ceiling. It was thanks to a special body suit that he was wearing right now that Suzaku had been able to even breach this far into the OSI headquarters in Area Eleven.

Clinging onto the walls, Suzaku went down the hallway and reached the door on the other end. Once he went through it, he looked to the right through bullet-proof glass to see a VERY LONG flight of stairs that went down at least ten floors and ahead he saw a door on the right side of the wall. Rushing to the door, he went through only to trip a set of laser sensors that immediately sounded an alarm.

**(www. youtube watch?v= p1dO7VOqD5s) Author Alert: this here is a broken video link to fitting music for what is going to happen. To listen to the music, which is the music that plays during the chase sequence in Communications Tower A, just type in what is in the parentheses except for the random spaces.**

Three Spec-Ops soldiers armed with Assault Rifles suddenly appeared from the doorway that led to the hall that was covered by motion sensors on both the floor and ceiling and began running towards Suzaku. Naturally, Suzaku assumed that these guys were the type to shoot first and ask questions later. He then noticed that the laser sensors that he had set off couldn't be bypassed at all. Since Suzaku knew that these men were hostile, he did the only thing that was sensible to do in this situation:

Run the fuck away.

He went down the stairs and tossed a flash-bang behind him. Since he was running away, he wouldn't suffer the full effects while his pursuers would be knocked out, only for another three Spec-Ops troops to replace them. Suzaku had to repeat this ten times as he went down the stairs before finding a door at the bottom that led into a hallway that had a four-way intersection. Suzaku left another flash-bang ready as he ran to the right. He found a door and then went inside to find a room full of dead bodies, many of which were just around Suzaku's side, but there were also several that were larger or smaller. Suzaku hid in the corpses and when the Spec-Ops soldiers came in, they began checking the bodies for any sign of Suzaku.

They almost gave up, but then Suzaku sneezed and ran out of the room before the Spec-Ops could react. Heading straight ahead, which meant that from the perspective of coming from the flight of stairs he was going to the left, he found another door and went in, only to find a long straight hallway with nothing decorating it. Running down the length of the hallway, Suzaku went through a door and found himself in a large room with lockers that could fit a grown man inside. Suzaku hid inside one of them and once he did, the Spec-Ops soldiers were searching for the Honorary Britannian again. The Spec-Ops found him this time without a sneeze giving his position away but before they could kill him, Suzaku had a flash-bang ready and knocked out his three pursuers again, if only for a short moment.

Running back to the hallway with the four-way intersection, Suzaku knew that he had not gone down one last path. Retracing his steps, he found the long flight of stairs to his right and upon opening the door found another set of laser sensors that could not be bypassed at all. Suzaku turned his back on that door and went straight. The door led into a hallway that had a T-intersection and the Honorary Britannian went to the left and found himself in another large room full of dead bodies after going through a door. This time when the Spec-Ops soldiers checked the bodies, they never found Suzaku and gave up. As they left, Suzaku knew that the state of alert had been lifted for the time being and exited the room.

**(End music here)**

Back at the T-intersection, Suzaku went to the right and found himself in a high-tech area that would look like Lloyd's laboratory had been increased in size six times over.

'So this is the true face of the Office of Secret Intelligence.' Suzaku thought to himself as he mentally went over his objectives. They were simple:

**Objective 1: Infiltrate the Area Eleven OSI Headquarters in Hiroshima (completed)**

**Objective 2: Find Clara Frank and steal her card key.**

**Objective 3: ****Break into the Data Hive and obtain the confidential Intelligence.**

**Objective 4: Set the bomb and escape to make it look like the Chinese Federation were responsible.**

Suzaku set off aimlessly through the large room, thankful that there were no guards, security cameras, or sensors inside. Meanwhile, Anya Alstreim and Gino Weinberg were on their way to Area Eleven, aware that they were being deployed there because of the recent actions of the Black Knights. Gino in particular was thinking about why only he and Anya were being deployed there when Suzaku was already in the area. It was five minutes until they arrived and both the Mordred and Tristan had been stowed correctly before they had left Pendragon, so the Knight of Three and the Knight of Six wouldn't be immediately sent into combat. They were both shaken out of their thoughts once the plane landed.

At the military Aerodrome in the Britannian Tokyo Settlement, they strode off the plane and were greeted by Cornelia and Schneizel before being escorted into an armored limousine and taken to the garage of the Area Eleven Administration Building. From there Cornelia requested for them to follow her into her office and once there they both took a seat before the Second Princess sat in a chair behind the desk of the Viceroy.

"Alright then, you two are Gino Weinberg and Anya Alstreim, correct?" Cornelia asked.

"You got it!" Gino said enthusiastically while Anya gave a simple, "Yes, ma'am."

"Welcome to Area Eleven then. You probably know who I am, but just to make sure, I am Second Princess Cornelia li Britannia, General-in-Chief of the army and Viceroy of Area Eleven."

"So I take it that Princess Nunnally has been replaced by you because of something that happened?" Anya asked.

"You are correct, Anya. However, to be more precise on the situation, I replaced Nunnally as Viceroy because she has been kidnapped by the Black Knights. Even though Alice was with her, they had managed to infiltrate the building and took off with both of them in Russian BTR-80 Armored Personnel Carriers. Gino, from what I know, you probably intend to enroll into Ashford Academy, do you not?"

"Yes, ma'am. How did you find out?" the Knight of Three asked.

"That is something that I would like to know as well." the Knight of Six said while adjusting her cloak.

"The President of the school's Student Council, Milly Ashford, has been confirmed kidnapped along with fellow Student Council members Shirley Fenette and Sophie Wood. Secure them if reasonably possible, but your top priority is rescuing Eleventh Princess Nunnally vi Britannia and her personal Knight, Alice." Cornelia stated.

Anya nodded in agreement while doing something with her phone while Gino said, "Please excuse Anya for using her phone to update her blog right now, Princess Cornelia. Miss Anya doesn't trust her memories and as such maintains a blog whenever anything happens. That being said, don't be surprised to see her doing something completely random and then recording it in her blog afterward. Trust me, she's seen me naked before."

Cornelia noticed that Gino blushed heavily when she heard him say that the Knight of Six had seen him naked in the past and said while blushing heavily, "Well hopefully that doesn't happen to me because I would be absolutely embarrassed if Anya snapped a photo of my private parts and put it on her blog."

"I honestly don't even know what's up with her. One time, she parked a Knightmare inside the barracks I was living in and ended up having to transfer to another one. The worst part of it all was that Anya followed me to my new barracks, so I've never been sleeping in one location for more than a week at most."

Back at the Area Eleven OSI headquarters, Suzaku had just cornered Clara Frank and knocked her out with a single kick to the stomach before shaking her down and stealing her card key. He then turned around and ran up to a corner and peeked around to see the entrance to the Data Hive, the nerve center of the OSI headquarters in Area Eleven. Suzaku knew that each area within the Britannian Empire had a local Headquarters for the Office of Secret Intelligence to operate out of and that each headquarters shared information with each other regarding certain weapons and drug traffickers who were notorious for evading capture, notorious terrorist organizations such as the Black Knights, and the Purist Party's embezzlement of funding for the personal gain of its members. Getting to the Data Hive's entrance took ten minutes, and Suzaku often had to distract guards before knocking them out as well as avoid trap doors and gun cameras, surveillance cameras that were set to kill intruders on sight using a mounted machine gun instead of raising the alarm. At the entrance of the Data Hive, Suzaku noticed a wall panel and swiped the card key through it and the security door opened, granting him access.

He then ran into the open entrance-way of the Data Hive, ready to find out what the OSI were trying to keep from the world at large.

**On the next chapter: Suzaku learns of the terrible secrets kept by the OSI and hightails it out of their local HQ in Hiroshima while the Black Knights hightail it out of Tokyo, very aware that a hornet's nest has been stirred up due to them kidnapping Nunnally, but also unaware that they are now in the cross-hairs of the Glinda Knights.**


	13. The Glinda Knights Intervene

"Lelouch"- speaking

_'Baka.'_- thoughts

_"Roger."_- Radio/Walkie-Talkie

A street in the Tokyo Settlement, Area Eleven, May, 2018.

Gino and Anya were both out on patrol in the settlement. Apparently it wold take a bit longer for their Knightmares to be prepped and readied for deployment and so the two Knights of the Round were ordered to go incognito and patrol the settlement for signs of the BTR-80s that the Black Knights were confirmed to be inside of. While Gino had settled for a simple pair of jeans and a red T-shirt and green jacket, Anya must have been knocked upside the head pretty badly in the past as she wore a purple miniskirt and an orange low-cut blouse. All in all, she looked like a Britannian prostitute. It had been a miracle that no males tried to hit on her so far while she patrolled with the Knight of Three on the sidewalks and Gino knew that it couldn't keep going like this forever.

_'Does she even know what a Lolicon is?'_ Gino thought to himself as he knew that Anya had only reached puberty around seven months ago. He was quickly shaken out of his thoughts when a BTR-80 came into view and started rolling onto the sidewalk like it wasn't there. Quickly realizing that he and Anya were both in the path of the Russian armored personnel carrier, Gino grabbed her and rolled to the right into a small alleyway that the BTR would not be able to fit into. Once the two Knights had stopped rolling, Gino noticed that Anya was on top of him and had a light blush forming on her face before releasing his grip on her. She then got off and thanked him for the fast action that the Knight had taken to save them both from getting run over before pulling Gino back up on his feet. Gino then peeked his head out of the alleyway and saw the BTR still on the sidewalk roll back onto the street and leave his line of sight before two customized Sutherlands and a customized Gloucester sped past, apparently in pursuit of the BTR.

Even though they were incognito, Gino and Anya still had radios on them. The Knight of Three pulled his out and said, "Do you have any information on two customized Sutherlands and a customized Gloucester, Viceroy Cornelia? I just saw them speed past me and I'm sure that they're pursuing one of the suspect BTR-80s."

_"The only information that matches up are from three Knightmares belonging to the Glinda Knights, Princess Marrybell's anti-terrorist unit. They're quite similar to Darlton's Glaston Knights, but the Glinda Knights only respond to orders given to them by Marrybell mel Britannia herself. They must have found out about what transpired in the Administration Building from a mole that they had placed inside and are launching their own operation to rescue Princess Nunnally. Anyways, you and Anya are to return to base. Your Knightmares are ready and you'll need the rest for what's coming up. Cornelia out."_ Cornelia answered before cutting the transmission.

Gino put his radio away and said to Anya, "Miss Alstreim, we need to get back to base and rest up for an upcoming mission. Direct orders from the Viceroy."

Anya looked at Gino for a few seconds and said nothing before a powerful breeze swept by and lifted her skirt. Surprisingly, she didn't care at all and merely stood there, even though Gino turned away before he even saw that Anya was wearing a pair of orange panties. Once the wind had died down, Gino turned back to her and muttered under his breath that it was not proper for a man such as himself to see a lady's undergarments only to be laughed off and told by Anya that she had regularly teased the other soldiers back in the homeland when she was a relatively new face amongst the Knights of the Round. Gino knew that Anya still retained the habit of only wearing a bra and a pair of panties until she had coffee. Many of the younger men quickly learned to avoid the mess hall when she was up before them, and to have both a mug of sweetened coffee and a robe on hand for when she DID wake up if they didn't want to get a nosebleed from seeing a girl wear next to no clothing. The older men were more likely to verbally reprimand her for not being decent before offering a cup of sweetened coffee to her if she changed into her Knight uniform.

Meanwhile in the BTR-80 that Gino had spotted earlier, Zero was watching Jeremiah very closely as the former guardsman kept his eye and weapon trained on the door. Nunnally had woken up about fifteen minutes earlier, but Zero opted to tranquilize her and put her to sleep again before she realized what was going on and her head was currently slumped against his left shoulder, her breathing being very slow and steady. Zero then whispered over to Tamaki, "Any idea who's pursuing us?"

"I'd say that it has to be the Glinda Knights. Cornelia hasn't sent her troops after us and the Glaston Knights haven't been sent here yet." Tamaki whispered back.

Very suddenly the BTR driver saw a VTOL Gunship and had the gunner shoot it out of the sky while he kept his eyes on the road. Unfortunately the noise caused by the BTR firing its machine gun woke up Nunnally and she then realized where she was.

"Ah it seems that our captive is awake. No need to worry though, so long as we have her the military can't use explosive weapons against us." Zero said before turning his attention to Jeremiah and saying, "Orange Boy, our captive is awake. Turn around and use your Geass Canceller on her."

Jeremiah turned towards Nunnally and the metal cover over his left eye opened and revealed the inverted Geass symbol for a few seconds before the cover reappeared. The Princess's eyes twitched before slowly opening and when they did she then knew that she was surrounded by unfamiliar people.

"You're probably wondering where you are right now, but that's the easy part. You're inside a BTR-80 Armored Personnel Carrier that is being used by the Black Knights. Anyways Eleventh Princess Nunnally vi Britannia, you probably know who I am, but allow me to introduce myself in case you forgot. I am Zero, leader of the Black Knights. Your Knight is being held inside another BTR at the moment while we are fleeing the Tokyo Settlement." Zero said to Nunnally.

Before Nunnally could begin to ask what Zero was planning to do with her, a radio transmission that came from one of the customized Sutherlands chasing them stated, _"Attention, forces of the Black Knights! This is Leonhardt Steiner of the Glinda Knights speaking! Surrender and hand over Princess Nunnally right now if you want to get the chance to defend yourself in court! If you do not comply, we will drag the Eleventh Princess out of that vehicle ourselves and destroy you all!"_

_"Like hell would we surrender to the likes of you! Your kind are leeching the lifeblood of Japan from its rightful people! Until Japan is freed from its shackles, we will not rest if you don't want to kill us all!"_ the driver of the BTR transmitted back.

This time the pilot of the customized Gloucester rammed in with, _"This is Oldrin Zevon, you guys seriously aren't this zealous, are you?"_

Before anyone could respond, a slash harken rammed into Leonhardt's customized Sutherland and forced the pilot to eject to avoid being killed. The other customized Sutherland turned towards where the slash harken came from as the pilot transmitted, _"Oldrin, continue the mission. Peace Mark has made its presence known!"_

_"Understood, Sokia. Commencing hostilities with the Black Knights!"_ Oldrin transmitted before cutting her communications and attempted to force the BTR-80 in front of her to crash by giving its wheels the slash harken treatment, only for the Armored Personnel Carrier's machine gun to make a 180-degree turn and shoot out her Knightmare's slash harkens once the weapons had exited the shoulders of the machine. Another BTR-80 then arrived and was moving on the left side of the other one. Unlike its partner this one had a 30mm cannon on top and this became apparent once it fired at Oldrin's Gloucester and destroyed a landspinner.

The BTR-80 that was armed with a machine gun immediately deployed a smokescreen and managed to evade the Gloucester. The Britannian Knightmare then leapt to dodge a slash harken from behind and once it landed turned around to see a gold and silver Knightmare retract the offending hook into its chest. Its pilot opened a communication link to Oldrin's Knightmare and said, _"So you're still fighting for the Empire that destroyed everything that I had? It's a shame that we have to see each other as enemies now, sister."_

_"Wh- Who are you!? Why did you call me your sister!?"_ Oldrin demanded.

_"I hate to remember the past, but when I killed one of the men responsible for the death of Euria, I took upon my first identity from when I was born and now, the Britannian Empire shall feel the anger, sadness, hopelessness, and unforgiving rage of Orpheus Zevon! I was born a Zevon as a twin brother to the real successor of the family, and that successor is you, Oldrin! I will prove my worth and show that I am no commoner by delaying you long enough for the Black Knights to escape!"_


	14. OSI Infiltration, Part Two

"Lelouch"- speaking

_'Baka.'_- thoughts

_"Roger."_- Radio/Walkie-Talkie

Office of Secret Intelligence Area Eleven branch headquarters, Data Hive, Hiroshima, May, 2018.

Suzaku knew that almost nobody was inside the Data Hive and as such was able to reach where the confidential Intelligence was held and captured it. However, once he had grabbed the briefcase that contained the Intelligence, the alarm went off and he had to quickly plant the bomb and hightail it out of the Hiroshima headquarters. It took nearly an hour and even worse, once Suzaku got out the Britannian military opened fire on him whenever they saw him. After Suzaku managed to get the drop on a patrol of six foot soldiers and knocked them out, he grabbed the radio of their leader and heard something that foreshadowed major trouble for him.

_"Suzaku Kururugi is still in the area. All local military forces are to kill him on sight. I repeat, the Ex-Knight of Seven is to be killed on sight. Furthermore, the decision has been made to revoke his status as a military officer regarding questionable loyalty."_ the transmission said.

_'Shit! All of my effort to cooperate with the Britannians has all been for naught!'_ Suzaku thought to himself before he began a long and arduous effort of avoiding Britannian military patrols while escaping the city. Once he was out of the city, he journeyed to the one place where he could find much-needed solitude: the ruins of the Kururugi Shrine. Once there, he agonized for hours over what he had been doing and what he would have to do now before a thought struck him.

"When your ideals betray you, when you are consumed by despair, when your life seems to hold nothing but darkness, seek me out. Seek me out and join me so we can save not only Japan, but the world." Suzaku remembered Zero say to him before the Ex-Honorary Britannian had gone to his court-martial.

_'Euphie is the only light that I have in this dark world now, and she's joined the Black Knights. I became her Knight so that I could protect her, so I have to join them too in order to avoid betraying my ideals. Yet, where are the Black Knights now?'_ Suzaku thought before heading to the Shinjuku Ghetto, where he had first fought the Black Knights when they were still the Kozuki Resistance.

Meanwhile in the Knightmare Hangar of the Area Eleven Administration Building, Lloyd had gotten into the cockpit of the Lancelot and began booting up its systems before taking off. Cecile had tried to stop him to no avail and could only watch as the Earl of Pudding went out to search for the devicer of his machine. Knowing that Schneizel would be undoubtedly furious, Cecile notified him about Lloyd's recent actions and said that he was acting out of line.

Schneizel laughed and then said over a video channel, "Well, consider yourself officially screwed, Ms. Croomy. My assistant Kanon has been pressuring me to marry someone for quite some time and now that your superior has gone and left with the Lancelot, I now have blackmail material on you. Face the harshness of reality, Cecile; if you want to save your career, you have no choice but to marry me at the end of the month. If you don't, I'll send Luciano Bradley over to fuck your sorry c*** for not being able to stop Earl Asplund."

Cecile's eyes widened in horror when the Second Prince mentioned the Knight of Ten and realized that what he had said was not an empty threat before saying, "Understood. I'll join our hands in marriage in four days. When will the wedding take place?"

"It will be held at the Viceroy's Palace. That is all, Ms. Croomy." Schneizel said before cutting the call.


	15. The vi Brittania Siblings Reunite

"Lelouch"- speaking

_'Baka.'_- thoughts

_"Roger."_- Radio/Walkie-Talkie

Former Japanese Liberation Front base royal holding quarters, Narita Mountain, May, 2018, 21:37 local time.

It had been three days since the Black Knights arrived at their base ever since Operation Fallen Noble has been initiated and the mission proved to be a success as Nunnally vi Britannia was now being held inside of the base at Narita Mountain. Even though her eyesight was restored, her hand-eye coordination was still terrible. She did notice that her quarters were very luxurious as expected for a captured princess, but it still remained a hard fact that she was still confined to a wheelchair. For the time being, Jeremiah had been assigned to guard her by Zero and even though Nunnally could explore the base's interior, she mostly remained within her living area. The situation changed three weeks later, when Zero received word that the Black Knights' limb reinforcement program had bore fruit in the form of experimental leg braces.

On the day that Zero had decided to meet with the captive Eleventh Princess of Britannia, Nunnally was contemplating on if Alice was alright while in her living quarters late at night when Ohgi arrived with two other members who wore gas masks. "Excuse me Miss Nunnally, but Zero wants me to bring you to his private quarters. Says that he has something to discuss with you and that what he has to talk with you about can't be discussed elsewhere in case something happens." the former schoolteacher said.

"Oh, Zero just wants to talk to me? What does he want?" the princess asked.

"Sorry Nunnally, but that information isn't something that Zero was willing to discuss with me."

"Well, I guess I can have a chat with him then. Jeremiah, if you could be so kind as to move my wheelchair for me." Nunnally said to the teal-haired Black Knight.

"Of course, Lady Nunnally." the former guardsman said.

Jeremiah wheeled the Eleventh Princess of Britannia down to Zero's living quarters while being escorted by Ohgi and the two gas-mask-wearing Black Knights. It took about five minutes and once they were there, Zero was in there wearing his helmet. Zero then dismissed the gas-masked soldiers before he said, "Ah, good to see you, Princess Nunnally. Now then, the R&D department of the Black Knights has successfully completed something that could benefit you later on: the leg brace. They are designed from the same technology used in the Fifth Generation Knightmare Frames and as such are very resistant to wear and tear. Now why is this important? Should you consent to having your legs be operated on so that the limb reinforcements can be attached, you will be able to regain the use of your legs and walk again."

"So what you're saying is that if I accept the leg braces, I won't be crippled anymore?" Nunnally asked.

"Indeed."

"Then it has been decided. You have my consent to perform an operation on me so that the leg braces can be attached to them."

"Well, that takes care of one issue. There's also another reason why I called you down here. Can you tell who is behind this mask?"

Nunnally thought to herself for a few moments and guessed, "A Japanese person?"

"Incorrect. If the person behind the mask was Japanese, I would not be as kind as I am right now. Furthermore, I have been planning my revenge on Britannia for over seven years and can now unleash it. Jeremiah, if you may."

"Of course, Zero." Jeremiah said before removing Zero's helmet and setting it down on a table. Nunnally then saw that the person behind the mask had raven-black hair and purple eyes. The young man then said, "Remember this, Eleventh Princess of the Britannian Empire?"

Nunnally tried to comprehend what was going on and asked, "B- Big brother!? You're Zero!?"

"Exactly, although judging by my actions in the past I can no longer call myself your big brother." Lelouch stated.

Nunnally shook her head in disagreement and said, "No, that's not true! I should have figured that you had killed Clovis when you had returned home after Shinjuku, but back then I was still blind! Lelouch, please be aware that I can never hate you no matter what you do or what you have done! I couldn't bring myself to dislike you even when you had abandoned me before I was taken from our home at Ashford Academy!"

Lelouch slumped onto a bed, stunned by what his younger sister was saying. "I just don't want to be separated from you again, Lelouch! I now know that you intend to liberate Japan and create a better world for me and Euphemia! I. . . I. . . I love you, big brother!" The Eleventh Princess stated before placing her wheelchair near the edge of the bed and then lunging onto her older brother as tears began to fall from her face. The force of the lunge sent the two vi Britannia siblings onto it and Lelouch noticed Nunnally bury her head into his shoulders as she began to cry. Tears began to stream down Lelouch's face as he held his younger sister in his arms and heard her say, "Lelouch, please. . . please sleep with me tonight!"

Nunnally's older brother simply hugged her tighter as they collapsed onto the bed. Meanwhile in the Viceroy's Office at the Area Eleven Administration Building, Cornelia was at her desk and in front of her was Princess Marrybell mel Britannia and her subordinate Oldrin Zevon along with a restrained young man with blond hair and green eyes.

"According to DNA results, he is telling the truth. This man, Orpheus Zevon, is the twin brother of your subordinate Oldrin." Cornelia said as she looked at a set of papers that confirmed what she had said.

"No way! She- She never said anything about having a brother." Marrybell stated.

"That's because Orpheus was thrown out of my family and left for dead in the streets of the homeland! I can't believe that my parents would be so heartless as to do such a thing! He had been recruited by someone and escaped from them, but they tracked him down and tried to kill him! They failed, but they had murdered his lover, a girl named Euria, in cold blood and escaped! He swore vengeance on Euria's killers and to that end he joined the mercenary/terrorist organization known as Peace Mark! If anything, he has been severely traumatized and I won't allow anyone to kill him!" Oldrin Zevon explained.

"Well then, I was planning to execute him, but I would assume that if I did then Ms. Zevon here would take her own life." Cornelia said.

"Correct, Viceroy Cornelia. However, you know what my stance on terrorists is, right?" Marrybell remarked.

"Yeah, I know about it. You don't spare anyone and you don't negotiate at all."

"However, my brother is different from the ordinary terrorists that have been put down by our hands. And judging by the information from my Gloucester's Factsphere, there's another thing that I need to speak about." Oldrin stated

"Okay, what is it then?" Cornelia asked.

"It's about Lelouch vi Britannia. He's alive and leading the Black Knights as the masked man Zero. For all these few months we believed that the Black Knights had executed him, but it was all a distraction so that he would not be returned to the homeland. He clearly doesn't approve of how His Majesty is currently running it, but that goes against everything that the Empire is built upon!"

"You're right, Oldrin. He also probably faked his execution so that Nunnally wouldn't try to seek him out. It worked and now that the Black Knights have her in their custody, the vi Britannia siblings are together again. Aside from Euphie, they're the only family that I have. It's also another reason why Lelouch wouldn't want to return to the homeland. He would do anything to protect Nunnally from the Emperor."

"Wh- what!? Lelouch would go against the Empire just to protect his younger sister!? Geez, that reminds me of how I felt about my own sister until terrorists killed her and my mother." Marrybell said, clearly surprised.

"From how I look at it, His Majesty would probably coerce Lelouch into obeying him by threatening Nunnally and vice-versa! I don't even know how he fared for all those years before the Ashfords found them, but he must have been through tough times." Cornelia stated.

"If you thought that what Lelouch possibly went through was bad enough, then you have no idea what my brother has been through. In fact, I would say that Orpheus has had it even worse than what the Eleventh Prince experienced. But that will have to wait until Zero is captured. Right now, we don't even know where the Black Knights escaped to. Orpheus, acting on Peace Mark's orders, had delayed the Glinda Knights long enough for the Black Knights to escape with Princess Nunnally and then made his own escape elsewhere. In fact, it was only when Peace Mark sent someone and tried to assassinate a member of the high nobility four days ago that we were able to intercept and capture my brother." Oldrin remarked.

"So where do we start hunting?" Marrybell mel Britannia asked.

"Do you remember who else was among the people that the Black Knights had kidnapped along with Nunnally?"

To everyone's surprise, it was Orpheus who had asked that question. Oldrin then answered, "There was Princess Nunnally's personal Knight Alice, then three members of the Student Council of Ashford Academy. They were Milly Ashford, Sophie Wood and Shirley Fenette."

"I have a hunch as to where the Black Knights could have taken them. Do any of you remember the Japanese Liberation Front?"

"I do. Because of what had happened last year when the Sakuradite Conference was held at Lake Kawaguchi, I had them listed as a terrorist organization and moved to eliminate them." Cornelia said.

"The Lake Kawaguchi Incident was not authorized by their leaders. Colonel Kusakabe had been acting of his own accord during that incident. Have you been inside their old base at Narita Mountain?"

"No, the JLF had abandoned the base and probably rigged it with traps after they escaped. Are you saying that the Black Knights might be there?"

"Yes. The Black Knights have probably occupied the base and are currently using it as we speak. Another reason why they probably fled to Narita is because Shirley's father died there, buried in a landslide."

"Well then, Orpheus Zevon, it seems like we now know where to find the Black Knights. Any idea on any other Eleven terrorist organizations?"

"No. After the Black Knights and non-Honorary Britannian Elevens left for the Chinese Federation, all of the terrorist cells that remained fused with the Black Knights, including the remnants of the Blood of the Samurai faction. However, Narita is not their only base of operations. They have allied with the Chinese and have already conquered Hokkaido and Kyushu. They most certainly have bases there and according to Peace Mark's intelligence network, the Black Knights have also shuttered numerous Sakuradite mines on Mount Fuji in case Option Nihil is unleashed."

"Wait, they shuttered some of the mines!? What were they thinking!? Sakuradite production is down because of that!" Marrybell shouted.

"According to the Intel, Option Nihil is supposed to be used if the Tokyo Settlement cannot be held by Britannian forces and it calls for the detonation of the Sakuradite mines so that Area Eleven is rendered uninhabitable. Zero must have found out about it and has been focusing guerrilla attacks on the mines in order to slow down Sakuradite production and defuse Option Nihil at the same time."

At that point Cornelia gasped and then said, "Schneizel must have set this up in case Lelouch tried to take Tokyo guns blazing. Marrybell, have your Glinda Knights be ready to attack Narita in two days. You'll be working in collaboration with Andreas Darlton and his unit, the Glaston Knights for Operation: Bad Days. Our objective is to capture Lelouch and rescue Nunnally along with any other prisoners held in the base. After Lelouch is captured, I will personally interrogate him to find out why he chose to become Zero and fight Britannia."

A loud high-pitched scream was heard and was then followed by a man groaning in pain. Anya Alstreim then burst in and exclaimed, "Some perverted young man tried to feel up my breasts, so I kicked him in the family jewels!"

"Oh crap, it's Anya Alstreim." Cornelia said.

"The Knight of Six?" Oldrin Zevon asked.

"Yes. She doesn't trust her memories at all, so she maintains a blog that she accesses and updates with her phone."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Now you might be wondering why Anya complained about being touched inappropriately and think that she's out of character. That's completely intentional because in this fic, Marianne's Geass didn't function properly and she died completely when V.V. assassinated her as a result of her Geass going completely nuts. When she saw Anya, instead of Marianne's soul being transferred to Miss Alstreim as intended, it instead completely annihilated her memories. Since Anya has a weird mind, I decided to give her a flirtatious personality.**

**On the next chapter: Lloyd tears two members of Valkyrie Squadron a new one at the Gunma Ruins while Suzaku reaches the Black Knights base at Narita Mountain mere hours before Operation: Bad Days begins.**

**Update: Oh yeah, and Lelouch x Nunnally is the pairing in this story.**


	16. Bad Days: Prelude

"Lelouch"- speaking

_'Baka.'_- thoughts

_"Roger."_- Radio/Walkie-Talkie

Gunma Ruins, May, 2018.

"So we're being sent here to kill Lloyd Asplund because that asshat went looking for Suzaku?" an unnamed member of Valkyrie Squadron asked Liliana Vergamon as the two of them kept watch over the area in their Vincents.

"Yep, this place shall be the grave of the Earl of Pudding if he's no good at piloting a Knightmare! Hahahahaha!" Liliana laughed.

Very suddenly, a green projectile slammed into Liliana's Vincent from behind and it was followed by two more shots that forced the pilot to eject before the Knightmare exploded. The unnamed member of Valkyrie Squadron then turned around and saw the Lancelot, armed with the VARIS rifle in one hand. It quickly put the VARIS rifle away and pulled out its two Maser Vibration Swords and sliced through the remaining Vincent before sheathing its MVS blades.

"You just got a can of whoop-ass opened on you, bitches!" Lloyd taunted before leaving. While it wasn't obvious that Lloyd knew what he was doing, he had a perfect rating for the Lancelot in the simulator, which made sense considering that he built the Knightmare Frame himself. Lloyd knew the specs and strengths of his creation, and took advantage of them easily to eliminate foes who were better pilots for lack of a better word.

In the meantime, Suzaku had managed to reach the Narita outskirts and noticed that it was quiet. Too quiet for his liking as it meant that something big was about to happen. Even now, his gut was telling him that the situation was going to head completely south as he went through the town. He made sure to avoid the patrolling Britannian soldiers and managed to reach the foot of the mountainside before noticing that several sentries were patrolling the area. One of them saw him and said, "Hey, isn't that guy Suzaku Kururugi?"

"Yeah, it's him. You think we should bring him in since the Brits threw him out?" the patrolman's partner said.

_"Search him and confiscate any weapons you find, then bring him straight to Zero's quarters. Ohgi out."_ Ohgi transmitted from the command center of the base.

The two patrolling sentries then searched Suzaku and only found a pistol on him. They confiscated it and then brought him inside the base. It took around six minutes to reach Zero's quarters and when they arrived, Kallen was waiting outside and motioned for the sentries to return to their positions outside the base. Once they left, Kallen opened the door and motioned for Suzaku to head inside before she closed the door after herself. Heading in, Suzaku noticed that the room was being occupied by Zero himself and. . .

"Nunnally!" Suzaku shouted as he saw that the Eleventh Princess's eyes were wide open instead of closed. The former honorary Britannian also noticed that Jeremiah was also inside the room, sitting in a chair and watching something on a television.

"Ah, good to see you, Suzaku. I take it that you are here to join the Black Knights?" Zero asked as he rose from a small couch that he was sitting in with Nunnally before picking her up and placing her in her wheelchair.

"Yeah. In all honesty, it's my only option now. I got kicked out for snooping into OSI business." Suzaku stated.

"Well, in ten minutes the Black Knights will be performing an operation on Nunnally so that we can attach our experimental 'Leg Braces' to her and then she'll be able to walk again. That being said, it turned out that her blindness was Geass-induced when we captured her and her eyes opened after Jeremiah here used his Geass Canceller on her. You probably know that Euphemia is alive right now since during Operation Fallen Noble I intentionally had her expose her identity, but that was also to troll the Britannians."

_'Okay, but what the flying fuck is Geass?'_ Suzaku thought to himself as he walked with Zero to the medical division before asking, "By the way, I heard that Princess Marrybell and her anti-terrorist squadron, the Glinda Knights, are in Area Eleven now."

"They probably know about this site, so we'll have to abandon it." Zero said before pulling a walkie-talkie out and transmitting, _"Patrol 5, status report."_

_"Boss, we've spotted the Glinda Knights. They're on their way here as we speak."_ Patrol 5 transmitted.

_"Any other hostiles?"_

_"Several other Knightmares. The pilots are confirmed to be members of the Glaston Knights led by Andreas Darlton. They will enter attacking range within five minutes. Orders?"_

_"All patrols are to avoid the enemy and escape."_ Zero said before cutting the transmission and contacting the command center.

_"Kyoshiro Tohdoh here, Zero. What's the situation?"_ Tohdoh transmitted.

_"Enemy forces have found our base here. They are confirmed to be the Glaston Knights and the Glinda Knights. Give the order to have all forces delay the Britannian attackers long enough for the medical division to complete their operation and then begin evacuation of the base."_

_"Understood. Tohdoh out."_

Once in the medical section of the base, Jeremiah wheeled Nunnally into an operation room and then everyone except for Zero was asked to leave the room by a pair of doctors. While waiting in a waiting room, a brown-haired young man wearing the uniform of the Black Knights approached Suzaku and said, "So you're Suzaku Kururugi, huh? The name's Naoto Kozuki and I must say that today is just full of surprises."

"Any reason why you're talking to me?"

"Nah, I don't need no freaking' reason to talk to you. I will say that my sister Kallen really doesn't like you, so I would suggest avoiding her unless you HAVE to work with her. On another note, Shinjiro Aragaki wants my help packing the kitchen supplies so I need to get going."

Naoto then left.


	17. Operation: Bad Days

"Lelouch"- speaking

_'Baka.'_- thoughts

_"Roger."_- Radio/Walkie-Talkie

Narita Mountain exterior, June 1st, 2018.

"This is Doug. No sign of the Black Knights in this area, over." A Britannian soldier transmitted.

"Keep your eyes open. We have no idea what they'll do." Oldrin transmitted.

Suddenly gunfire was heard as Doug rolled to the left to avoid a stream of bullets coming from what he thought was the entrance to the base. He quickly transmitted, _"This is Doug, enemy forces have made contact at possible entrance."_

_"Hold your position, we'll come to you."_ Oldrin transmitted.

Inside the command center of the base, Tohdoh was busy coordinating defense units and stalling for time that the medical officers needed to complete their operation. Since it was now in its final stages, they needed around ten minutes. The Glaston Knights and the Glinda Knights were both doing their best to try and break through the defenses, but the defenses were also doing their best to hold them back since evacuation hadn't commenced yet. It was a hectic eight minutes of stopping enemy attempts to get through as members of the Black Knights held their ground.

Once only a minute was left until the medical division could complete their operation, the Glaston Knights had managed to blitz through a defensive line only to encounter another one. The troops that were holding the line that had been broken through decided to play it safe and escape the base while the Glaston Knights were occupied trying to break through the second line. The Glinda Knights were not having much better luck as they also had to contend with a second defensive line after destroying an initial one. It was not long before the medical division of the Black Knights had completed their operation and evacuation began.

Inside the operation room, Zero waited for the doctors' results and they told him that the operation was a success. Upon hearing that, Zero slowly walked over to where Nunnally was and saw that she was still knocked out due to the sleeping gas. The leader of the Black Knights then said, "I'll take her with me. We need to get out of here now that the Glaston Knights and Glinda Knights are attacking this base." before picking up the sleeping Nunnally and carried her out of the room and toward the hangar where the Shinkiro was stored. Once inside the hangar, he went inside the cockpit of the machine and positioned his sister so that she was sitting sideways in his lap and didn't block the monitor that Lelouch needed to use in order to properly identify the positions of both enemies and allies.

Meanwhile, the Glinda Knights had managed to find one of the tunnels leading to the Knightmare Hangars of the base when the defense forces suddenly began to retreat. The Glaston Knights noticed a similar situation when they got close to where the command center was and quickly realized that the base was being abandoned. A few nameless soldiers got out of their Knightmares and went into the control center only to find a bomb waiting for them.

_"It's a trap! We need to get the hell outta here before this thing blows!"_ The squadron's commander yelled through the radio.

_"What's the situation in there?"_ Marrybell asked.

_"Bomb in the Command Center! It's got a proximity sensor on and it's wired to the detonator! We can't defuse something like this, so we're getti-"_ the commander was cut off by the bomb exploding and the Britannian forces immediately began to leave the area so that they weren't caught in the blast.


End file.
